Worlds Away
by FedoraLover23
Summary: Ronon and his team saves Natalie and her team when they get captured when visiting a planet. Ov er the months that it takes her to heal from her broken arm and stab wounds the two get to know one and another, and there is an obvious attraction. Ronon/OC
1. Mission Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter one

Some people think that Atlantis is only a myth, legend – something they believed in because they thought that it was an advanced civilization but most people either didn't believe it or thought that it had sunk into the Atlantic ocean. Those people were half right, Atlantis was an advanced civilization but they weren't from the Milky Way Galaxy but rather the Pegasus Galaxy. And only for the last few years have people from Earth been able to go to the true Atlantis and learn about it and from the people who once lived on Atlantis.

At the moment one of the Atlantis teams were off world on a deserted planet, scanner's picked up an energy reading coming from the planet and they are pretty certain that it was from a ZPM. Leading the team on the deserted planet was Evan Lorne, the there's his teammates James Gevorgian, Emilia DeLuca the computer geek and lastly Natalie Vance the weapons Specialist.

First glance at the planet and you would think that you were in some South American Jungle, the only difference was that they didn't have massive disease carrying mosquitoes the size of your hand. It's surprising that such a green and flourishing planet was uninhabited, if anyone chose to live there it was obvious that they would be more then well off.

"Emilia?" Lorne asked as they were carefully making their way through the forest, just because the planet is deserted doesn't meant that there aren't other things there that could kill them, best to be cautious.

"Yeah?" Emilia responded without looking up from her tablet computer.

Lorne looked at her with a shake of his head as he pulled her out of the way from going headfirst into a tree, "Are we getting close to where the ZPM is yet?" he asked

"Yeah, no kidding," James said from behind the two. "I'm beginning to think that you are some evil mastermind who finds fun in torturing us by making us walk all over the place for endless hours." he said with a whine.

Natalie hit James upside the head with the butt of her gun, "Stop complaining Jamsie, you're being a baby. You're a marine, you've been through worse before. Hell from what I've heard the training was the worst part." she said to him with a roll of her eyes. "Besides if I can take it you definitely can."

"Or maybe you just act too much like a guy." he retorted.

Natalie glared at James and gave him a ' did you really just say that' kind of look, "Are you sure you want to go there?" she asked him challengingly.

Before James was able to respond to that Lorne interrupted the two's banter, "Okay kids enough of that. We have a mission to complete, you guys can argue all you like once we're done." he said which earned identical put out expressions from the two.

"So back to the original question," Natalie said looking at Emilia. "Are we getting close to the ZPM?" she asked.

Emilia looked down at her computer and touched a few buttons before she answered, "Yeah, we're only about fifteen twenty feet from it." she said and looked up. "It should just be through that clearing." she said and pointed ahead of them.

So with that said the four of them made their way towards the clearing, but the closer they were getting to where the ZPM was the more agitated Natalie was feeling. There was something else on the planet other then them, she could feel it, sense it and this something definitely did not want her or the others there or finding the ZPM. Because of this feeling Natalie was being extra sensitive to her surroundings, pointing her gun in whatever direction that she heard a sound come from. She might be overreacting but it's better to be safe then sorry.

"Emi?" Natalie asked after a few minutes of the uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. "Are you sure that we are the only people on this planet?" she asked uncertainly, her bad feeling was getting worse and worse.

"Yes Natalie, I'm sure." Emilia said with a heavy sigh. "Believe me if there was any living people here other than us my scanner would be picking it up and so far were the only living people here."

Lorne looked back at Natalie, "Why do you ask Nat? You see or hear something?" he asked.

Natalie shook her head, "No but I got a feeling, a bad feeling and I never ignore it and it's telling me to get my ass out of here." she said as she surveyed the area that they were heading into.

"Hey," James aid nudging Natalie. "We'll get the ZPM and then we'll get out of here and once we get back on base we'll all make fun of you for being so paranoid." he told her with a joking smile.

In response to that Natalie just gave a dry laugh, "Ha, ha. Aren't you the funny one." she replied and turned her attention back to watching the forest and making sure nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

Soon enough they reached the clearing but there was nothing there that could hold a ZPM or even store it, the whole place was pretty bare except for a few trees and other vegetation of the like. The second Emilia saw that there was no ancient technology around that would hold a ZPM she started to freak out, she did numerous scans and it showed that the ZPM was in this clearing but yet, it was no where to be found.

"It's supposed to be here," Emilia said in frustration. "My scans show that it is in this exact spot." she said as she stopped next to a tall tree, on the tree were some carvings but she paid them no notice she was there for the ZPM.

"Maybe you scanners malfunctioning," James suggested carefully, Emilia get's a bit defensive when people insult her instruments.

The second those words left his mouth Emilia turned towards him with a glare, "No they aren't James, they are in perfect working order. I don't understand why the ZPM isn't here." she said and huffed in annoyance.

Lorne had a thoughtful look on his face before he said anything, "Did you think of digging." he suggested.

At that Emilia, James and Natalie looked at him oddly, "Dig?" Emilia asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Lorne said in assessment. "Dig into the dirt, I mean I'm going out on a limb here but this planet has been deserted for generations so whose to say that the plant life hasn't grown over what was once here."

Emilia looked at Lorne and then at the spot where her s cans were showing that the ZPM was at and then back again before she gave a resigned sigh, "I guess there's no harm in trying, it's not like I'm gonna find it by standing her and complaining." she said.

"That's the spirit." Natalie said to her with a smirk.

Emilia just rolled her eyes and she and James started to dig into the dirt to find the ZPM while Natalie and Lorne stood guard just in case there was something on the planet that wanted to attack them that they didn't know about. After about ten or fifteen minutes of digging they finally hit something solid and from the looks of it, it was some kind of device, not ancient but seemed to have the same complexities of it.

Just as Emilia was going to lift the device out of the ground the sound of a gun cocking alerted the four that they were not alone anymore, "Don't move." A deadly calm voice said.

Turning towards the voice Natalie saw that there was a group of men, all equipped with guns and knives and all of whom had their guns aimed right at the four of them in a threatening manner. Obviously they didn't want them to take the ZPM and the device that they discovered, it was probably the thing that was keeping Emilia's scans from picking up that there was human life on the planet.

"Hi," Lorne said breaking the silence between the two groups. "We-"

He was cut off by one of the men, "You were trying to steal sacred technology from us." he said sending a glare at the four of them.

"No we weren't, we thought this place was abandoned." Emilia stated. "If we would have-"

The man cut her off, "Silence, you do not speak. You were trying to take something of ours and for that you will be brought to our leader and dolled out the proper punishment for such transgressions." he said to them in tone of voice that meant that he would enjoy the punishment they would receive much too much.

"Hey, we didn't mean to come and take something of yours." Lorne said defending them and trying to find a way to get them out of this mess. "We wouldn't have taken it if we would have known that you were using it and that there were people living here." he said to them.

The man just smirked, "You should have never come here," he stated and then gestured to four of his men. "Take their weapons and tie them up." he stated.

Immediately the men headed towards Lorne, James, Emilia and Natalie; everyone but Natalie handed over their weapons willingly. Natalie didn't want to give her weapons up, she felt naked without them and defenseless and she would be damned if she would give them up so willingly. These people didn't like them nor did they want them there, and there was no doubt that they were going to either kill them or torture them beyond belief.

Stop fighting and we wont have to hurt you," One of the younger men said to her.

Natalie ignored him and continued to fight again him and two others, she would not go down without a fight. She would rather get injured in a fight them act like a submissive animal, she's a fighter. Suddenly Natalie felt a pain at the back of her head and then everything became blurry before she was completely knocked out unconscious.

AN: Review please but no flamers, I am not writing this story for you but for me and i am sharing it wiht you so if you don't like it then don't review and tell me it sucks. But if you are a nice reviewer then go ahead and review please.


	2. Altozia and the Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter two

"Come on Nat, wake up. This is not the time for you to be sleeping."

Opening her eyes Natalie immediately groaned and tried to roll over but hissed in pain when the back of her head hit the cold floor, "Owie," she said and rubbed the back of her head softly.

There was a laugh a few feet from where her head was laying at, "That's what you get for being stubborn and fighting back." Lorne stated and gave her an amused look.

"What can I say, I don't like people that tell me what to do." Natalie replied and slowly sat up.

Looking around the room Natalie saw that there were two guards posted at the door, across from her was James, sitting next to her was Emilia and next to her was Lorne. The room that they were in was dark, there was one window near the back wall that barely let any light in and the whole room was made of stone making it feel colder then if it would've been made of wood or something like that.

"So what happened after the big baboon's knocked me out?" Natalie asked turning a curious glance to her three friends and teammates.

Lorne sighed heavily before he answered, "Well after they knocked you out they took us to their village or whatever and brought us to their leader, he demanded to know what we were doing here and who sent us. We tried ot say that we were explorers and were just trying to find energy source's to power our home but he didn't believe us." he said and paused for a few moments before continuing again. "He said for trying to steal from his people that we are going to pay."

Hearing that made Natalie sigh, "Great, I just love dealing with these caring and loving types." she said sarcastically. "So who are these people exactly?" she asked curiously

"They call themselves the Abaroian," Emilia said to her. "The device that we found that had the ZPM was transmitting some sort of signal that made it seem that there was no one on this planet when there really was people here." she explained.

"So basically we got screwed over," James said with a half smirk on his face.

Just as Natalie was about to respond to that there was a series of knocks on the door, the guard responded in a similar fashion and opened the door and stepped aside as a much taller and larger man came into the room. The man grabbed a chair that was laying on the floor and set it in front of where Natalie and the others were congregated at and stared at them for a while before he said anything.

"You four have committed a serious crime you realize," he said to them. "For doing so you have just as well sentenced yourselves to death." he told them seriously.

At that James glared at him hatefully, "We didn't know we were doing anything wrong, we did some research before we came here and it said that this place was abandoned so we didn't figure that anyone would mind us taking anything if it was abandoned." he argued.

"We're just explorers." Emilia said in a small voice.

The man just looked at them with an unreadable expression, "So you say, but how am I to know that that is true if you do not tell me where you come from." he said to them.

"And how do we not know you aren't trying to get information from us so that you can go and kill our people?" Natalie asked and crossed her arms.

"You just have to trust me," The man stated with an amused smile.

"Like hell we are," James yelled, "We don't know who the fuck you are."

Lorne grabbed James' arm, "Stop it." he said fiercely.

But it was too late the man stood up and stalked towards James threateningly and punched James across the face, making blood flow from his nose. "I am Altozia, leader of the Abaroian people and you will treat me as your better."

"You're no better than an animal," Natalie replied and immediately regretted it when she was slapped hard across the face.

Altozia bent down to her level, "You are very lucky that you are a woman right now, but if you keep on letting your tongue get away from you I will treat you like anyone else that disrespects me and talks back." he said to her in a deadly tone of voice. "Believe me you do not want to go through that, the woman prisoner's that we have had broke very easily because of what we did to them." he told her.

That made Natalie glare at him but she said nothing else, she knew that there was no point in trying to argue with him seeing as she would probably just get hit again or something of the like and as tough as she is Natalie would rather be in a situation where she could hit him back.

Once Altozia was back in his seat he looked at the four Atlantean's expectantly, "Now let's start again, what are you doing here and who sent you?"

"We're explorer's like we've told you the last dozen times you've asked," Lorne said with a convincing look on his face. "We're just traveling around the galaxy trying to find power sources for our old homeland."

Altozia looked at them with a sneer, "For some reason I do not believe you, I doubt explorers would come so heavily armed, especially the woman." he said gesturing towards Natalie.

At that Natalie glared, she always traveled with more weapons then needed but in her defense she always wanted to be prepared. "We just want to be prepared, never know what kind of planet we might end up on." she said to him with a defiant look on her face.

"I do not believe you," Altozia said once again. "You all have similar weapons and clothing, the girl with the numerous weapons I could believe if it was just her but she came with your group." he said and stared at Natalie as if he wanted to undress her. "Now tell me where it is that you came from and I will release you. It is obvious that whatever place it is is that it is advanced."

"Whats the point?" James asked. "You're just going to kill us." he said to him with a hateful glare.

Altozia looked down at him, "That was your last chance, you should have told me where you are from because I would have let you go without inflicting anymore injuries but because you chose not to I have no choice now. Until I get the information that I want you will be staying here, if you don't willingly give the information I need I will use any means necessary to acquire it from you." he said and lowered his voice for the next part. "You understand I will harm you, torture you and possibly kill you if you do not tell me what I need."

"Go to hell," Lorne said in response to that.

Surprisingly Altozia didn't punch Lorne for that comment he just gave him a dark look before standing up and quickly leaving the room, closing the door as he left and once again the guards took on their normal stance in front of the door to be sure that none of their prisoners tried to escape or anything like that.

"Well wasn't that fun," James said as he wiped his bloody nose on the arm of his shirt.

Once he said that Emilia turned her angry gaze towards him, "Fun? Fun you say, that was not fun. How can you joke and say things like that in this kind of situation?" she screeched at him and shook in anger and fear. "I don't know what to do or how to react, I'm scared and these people scare me. I just want to go back home and do work back in my lab." she said and pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Natalie saw how lost and scared her friend was and immediately scooted herself over to be by Emilia and wrapped her arms around her shoulder's, "Don't worry Emi we're gonna find a way out of this place. You know me and you know Lorne, you know we wont let ourselves be stuck here, plus I get antsy if I can't work with my guns."

"What if we can't escape, what if we die here?" Emilia asked in a quiet voice.

"I wont let that happen," Lorne said looking her in the eye. "I've been in worse situations before, so believe me when I say that we are going to make it out of here alive. Okay?" he asked.

Emilia nodded, "Okay. I believe you." she said to him and yawned widely.

Natalie smiled at her friends softly and ran her hands through her friends hair, "Sleep Emi." she said to her when Emi rested her head on Natalie's shoulder.

Once Emilia was asleep Natalie, Lorne and James began to talk quietly about what they should do about the situation they were in and what James and Lorne knew about the outside structure of the place and the inside of it and if there were any exit's near by. Sadly though they didn't see any of the inside, they were blindfolded once they reached the village and basically they were going to have to do something drastic to find out what the inside of the building and the outside looked like so that they could make a possible escape.

Natalie looked at Lorne, "So what's the plan? We need to find some way to escape this place and get back home." she said to him seriously. "I doubt Atlantis will be coming within the next few hours, we aren't supposed to be back for at least another day."

"Yeah and I doubt the fatty was joking around about torturing and killing us and as fun as that sounds I would really rather not have to go through that." James said looking at Lorne and Natalie.

Sighing heavily Lorne rubbed the bridge of his nose, not sure what to do or say. I don't know what we should do, there's too many guys and only so few of us and I doubt Emilia is in any shape to try and fight with us to get ourselves out of here." he said and looked over at said person and then back at the other two. "Wraith I could have handled and thought of a plan but not these people, we've never run into anyone like this before."

James laid down out on the floor, "We need to find out the layout of this place, know where a lot of people congregate and where barely any are at, those places would be the best to hit and get away." he said.

"Yeah if we don't find out we wont ever get out of this place alive or even somewhat injured." Lorne said.

At that Natalie looked at him sharply, "So you guys are suggesting we purposely escape so that we can find more out about this place. Am I understanding these things right?" she asked with a raised brow.

Lorne nodded, "Yeah, it's really our only option. And I doubt telling them about Atlantis is on the list of things to do to escape." he said to her.

"No," Natalie said shaking her head. "Not really." she replied.

"So," James said looking between the two. "Whose gonna do the run?" he asked.

Taking a deep breath Natalie let it out slowly and looked at the guys, "I'll do it," she said and shook her head at herself.

The guys looked at her like she was completely insane, "What?" they said simultaneously.

"I'll do it," Natalie repeated. "I know I am probably being a complete idiot for volunteering but I'm probably the best person for the job." she said to them.

Lorne and James both opened their mouths to argue but with a pointed look from Natalie they quickly shut their mouths, both knew that when Natalie had that look on her face there was no way from changing her mind no matter how much they argued. They talked over the schematics of the plan, deciding when the perfect time of day to make the escape would be and when Natalie should allow herself to get recaptured. As much as Natalie wanted to make the escape right then she knew it was too late, it was getting dark and soon she wouldn't be able to see anything and tell the others about what the lay out of the place was and where their stuff might be at.


	3. Running and Punishmeng

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter three

Just as they agreed the night before Natalie was going to be attempting the first escape when the door opened again, it was a self sacrificing attempt she was going to let herself get caught so that she could then tell the others about what the place looked like and the best place to try and escape when they do it for real the next time.

"Are you sure you wanna do this Nat?" Lorne asked in concern as they heard foot steps approaching the room. "They could seriously injure you if you do this." he said telling it to her straight.

Natalie looked at Lorne with a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Lorne I'll be injured no matter what I do, they'll torture us for information and quite frankly I would rather be beaten and punished for trying to escape then just sitting here doing nothing." she said as she pulled her hair back into a pony tail.

Lorne sighed heavily when she said that and looked her in the eyes, "You can still back out you know, me or James can do it instead." he said to her.

At that Natalie shook her head, "No I gotta do it, I'm the faster and more agile one of the group."

Just as Lorne was about to say something else and argue with her to change her mind and let one of the guys go instead of her the door opened to reveal Altozia standing there with a almost happy smirk on his face. Natalie didn't even hesitate, she jumped up and high tailed it out of there knocking Altozia to the ground and ran as fast and has hard as she could so that she could get out of there and carry out with the plan.

Just as she was nearing the end of the hallway Natalie heard heavy footsteps behind her, glancing behind her Natalie's eyes winded when she saw three guards chasing after her and considering everything, that was a bit of an unfair pairing considering she was just one small girl and they were three big beefy guys. Making a quick decisive Natalie pushed through the door that was on her left, it was an armory of some sort. Immediately Natalie jumped over the large wood table that was situated in the middle of the room and grabbed a sword off of the wall and faced the three guards who had just entered the room.

"What are you gonna do little girl?" One of the guards taunted. "Are you going to try and fight us?" he asked with a laugh.

Natalie glared at that, "I'm gonna do more then fight you, I'm going to kill you." she said to him confidently, she hated it when people talked down to her and this guard especially got on her nerves.

The smaller and younger guard looked at her with a smirk, "And how are you going to do that?" he asked.

"With the sword, duh." she replied and looked at him like he was an idiot, what other reason would Natalie be holding a sword.

The three of them laughed at that, "Can a girl like you handle a sword like that?" the first one said to her, the annoying one.

Hearing that made Natalie glare, "I can more then handle it bitch." she growled at him and before he realized what was going on she jumped at him and swung her sword at him, nearly cutting his head clean off.

Once the other two realized what was going on they started to attack her but Natalie skillfully blocked their blows, blocking their swords with the one she was using and ducking before they could cut her head or any of her body parts off really. Natalie hit the younger kid in the head with the hilt of her sword and then turned to swing at the other guy when she suddenly felt like she got the wind knocked out of her and fell to the ground.

"Hurts doesn't it bitch," the older man said from above her and grabbed her up by under her arms and dragged her out of the room and back down the hallway towards the room she and the others have been occupying.

Instead of heading for the end of the hallway where the room was, Natalie's captor instead knocked on a door to the right and then after a few seconds passed he tossed her inside and left. Looking up from her position on the floor Natalie came face to face with Altozia who had a crazed expression on his face, and from past experience Natalie knew that that definitely was not a good sign. Natalie may be strong but even she has a breaking point and from the look on this guys face the time that she's going to be spending on this planet was not going to be a very pleasant one.

"You," Altozia said shaking his head at her in disappointment. "I am not happy with you. You tried to escape." he said and glared at her fiercely.

Natalie knew she shouldn't have done it but she couldn't help but tease him, "I wasn't trying to escape, I just, you know, had the urge to go for a run." she said with a smirk. "I planned on coming back."

While glaring at her Altozia stood up from the chair he was sitting in and stalked towards her threateningly, he grabbed her up by the collar of her jacket and brought their faces together only a mere inch or so separating them.

"Do not mess with me woman, you will not win." he said to her. "What I told you about women prisoners and how they are treated was not something I said just to scare you into submission. Be careful what you say." Altozia said and threw her away from him and returned back to sitting in his chair.

Natalie winced as the tender spot at the back of her head hit the floor but ignored the pain and smirked at Altozia, she wasn't going to show fear in front of the man. "You don't scare me, you are nothing but a weak excuse of a man who lures people here by making them think that it is abandoned." she spat at him.

He laughed at her, really laughed and then turned his dark gaze towards her once again. "You will not be saying that near the end of your stay here." he said.

"What you actually plan on letting me and my people go?" Natalie scoffed, unbelieving.

"Oh no, you will not leave this planet alive." he said to her. "But you will be begging and pleading for death before I actually give it to you." he said to her.

Natalie looked up at him with a defiant look in her eyes, "I would rather starve myself then beg from the likes of you." she said to him in anger.

He smirked at her, "We'll see how long you last," he said to her and stood up. "Seeing as you are so willing to go without food I believe that for punishment of your actions yourself and your companions will go without food until I deem in necessary."

Altozia whistled and within seconds a man entered the room and bowed lowly to Altozia, "My Lord?" he questioned.

"Remove her from my presence." he said but before the guard stood up and do as he was asked Altozia kicked Natalie in the face, the sound of bone breaking made it obvious that he had broke her nose.

The guard grabbed Natalie by one arm and dragged her the few feet that it was back to the room she and her friends were staying in, he knocked on the door in a certain pattern and then the door was opened for him and he all but threw Natalie to the ground. The second she hit the ground Emilia was at her side helping her up from where she landed and was looking her over in concern when she saw all of the blood on Natalie's hands and shirt.

"_Mio Dio,_ " Emilia said in Italian, in shock from how much blood was on Natalie. "Are you okay, what happened. What did they do to you?" she hissed quietly.

Natalie waved her concern off but, "I'm fine." she said through her hand and bloody nose.

At that James scoffed from besides her, "Like hell you are, you've got blood gushing down your face." he said darkly, angry about someone hurting Natalie. "Now move your hand so we can take a look at it."

Sighing in resignation Natalie moved her hand and let James and the others take a look at the damage that she received from Altozia. James grabbed her by her chin and moved her face from side to side, looking at the damage of her nose and the bruises that were already forming form her fight with the three guards.

"God Nat," Lorne said leaning over James' shoulder to take a look at her. "What did you say to the man to piss him off so much?" he asked.

Natalie shrugged, "What can I say, I hate bullshitters." she said with a half laugh and then turned her attention to Emilia. "So what's the verdict dearie?"

Emilia gave her a look for calling her dearie but said nothing, "We're gonna need to put it in place, there's no knowing how long we're gonna be here and I doubt you want it to heal crooked." she said.

"No not particularly." Natalie responded.

"This might hurt a bit," Emilia said as she grasped Natalie's nose and pulled downward, putting it back in it's proper place. "There all better." she said with a smile.

At that Natalie glared at her friend, "Speak for yourself." she said and clutched her now non-crooked nose.

Lorne interrupted the two, "Natalie, did you see anything. Find anything out that could be useful?" he asked.

Natalie turned towards him and gave him a dejected smile, "Not really Lorne, I made it nearly to the end of this hallway," she said and gestured towards the door. "before three guards were after me, I ran into one of the rooms at the end which ended up being an armory. So I guess it's good to know where they keep their weapons at but otherwise I didn't find anything useful out really."

"Great," James said sarcastically. "So basically we're still in the same boat as we were before."

"Yep." Natalie replied flatly.

"Did you see where any of our supplies might be?" Lorne asked hopefully.

Natalie shook her head, "No but when I was in the armory I was more concentrating on fighting the guards then you know, taking in the scenery." she told him.

"I'd guess that they'd be there if anywhere," James said. "Probably the one place they think that the stuff would be safe at."

While Emilia was working on cleaning up Natalie's face to the best she could she glanced at her three friends disapprovingly, "Maybe seeing as what happened to Natalie we should try and not piss these people off. Other people are going to come for us, we just have to hold out and wait." she said, saying the last part quietly so that the guards didn't hear her.

At that James laughed dryly, "Why? What's the point. They're gonna torture us either way so we might as well fight then act like passive little bitches." he said not caring to sugarcoat it.

"James!" Natalie said with a glare.

Lorne looked at Emilia who had a broken/lost look in her eyes, "Look Emilia. I know you're scared and freaked out but we have to fight back. If we just let them do what they want to us then we're less likely to survive, we gotta show them that we're fighters and give everyone at Atlantis time to figure out that we're late."

"I know we do but," Emilia said looking at her three friend. "What if that doesn't happen, what if they're too late." she asked not wanting to think about the possibilities.

"Then we go down fighting and make our friends and family proud of us." Lorne said.


	4. Rescue Plan, pain and suffering

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter four

~~~Atlantis~~~~

"Anything?" Carter asked Amelia one of the control room technicians.

Amelia looked down at her station and tried to contact Lorne and his team, "Atlantis to Major Lorne come in." she tried it a few more times but still no answer. "Sorry ma'am, still nothing."

Carter nodded, "Alright, thank you Amelia. Radio me if you get anything." she said to her and then headed to her office so that she could think of what the best plan of action would be to getting Lorne and his team back from P7X-337. "Carter to Sheppard, come in please." Carter said touching her ear comm.

"Yeah Sheppard here, what do you need Colonel?" Sheppard asked over the ear comm.

"Can you and your team come to my office right now?" Carter asked. "I need to talk to you all about something." she said heavily.

"Yeah sure, be there in a few." Sheppard responded.

While Carter was waiting for John and his team to come to her office she began to think over what could have gone wrong with Lorne and his team, how exactly they were captured when previous scan's of the planet showed that the entire place was deserted. It didn't make any sense, and she was pretty sure that if she was to do a scan of the planet again for life signs that it would show that there wasn't any.

"Hey Carter," John said as he, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney stepped into her office. "So what's up?" he asked as he and the others stood in front of her desk wondering what was going on exactly.

Carter sighed when he said that, "We have a situation going on at the moment." she replied hesitantly.

He looked at her, "What kind of situation?" he asked carefully.

"Major Lorne and his team have gone missing," Carter told him. "And we are led to believe that they were captured." she said to him.

"Captured?" Rodney asked and scoffed. "Impossible, the place is deserted what would try and take them. A plant?" he asked sarcastically.

Teyla glanced at Rodney, "Perhaps we should hear her out before making any decisions about what is going on." she said to him and then looked back at Carter. "What exactly happened?"

"They left for the planet six days ago and were going to stay for a while, scout the place out and look for the ZPM. They were supposed to return yesterday but they didn't come back at their scheduled time and we have been unable to reach them, they wont answer our radio calls."

John glanced around the room at his teammates and then at Carter, "So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you want us to go to that planet, figure out whats going on and go save their asses from whoever has them. Right?"

"Basically," Carter replied.

"So when do we go?" Ronon asked speaking up and looking ready to get into a fight.

At that comment Carter looked over them, "As much as I want to go and get our missing people right now we can't Ronon." she she started and was about ot open her mouth to say something else when he cut her off.

"So you're going to leave your own people there to possibly suffer and die?" he asked harshly.

Carter sighed, "I don't want to to do that, believe me but I am not willing to sacrifice any more of my people to that planet until I know exactly what is going on there. There is something weird going on with that planet." she said to him and then looked over at Rodney. "Find out as much as you can about the planet and let me know when you find anything out."

Ronon glared at Carter and growled in frustration and stalked out of her office most likely heading to the gym to blow off some of his anger on the marine's and soldier's, he hated to leave people behind and not jump right in to go and save people.

"I believe that it is nearing time to eat so I will leave you," Teyla said looking between Carter and John and left the room, pulling Rodney out with her.

She could sense that there was something that Carter and John needed to talk about.

John stared at Carter for a few moments before he broke the silence, "We should go and get them right now, you know Ronon's right. If we leave too late they could already be dead." he said to her.

"I know John, I want to go and get them as much as you do but I have to look at the whole picture here." Carter said to him. "I am not willing to risk anymore lives, I need to know what is going on with that planet before I send you there." she said to him with a downcast expression.

"So what? Our lives mean more to you then Lorne's and the others?" John asked getting angrier.

"Of course not," Carter answered. "I know how valuable they all are, people like Natalie are hard to come by. A weapon Specialist like her, who can pick up almost any kind of weapon and be able to master it as quick as she can is not very common." she said and paused. "I want to go and get them but please, let Rodney do some scans and tests and then you and your team can go and save them. I promise."

John huffed at her and rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance, "Fine but know that if they are all dead it will be on your shoulders." he said and left her office in a mood.

Even though he said nothing when Ronon was talking, John agreed wholeheartedly with what Ronon said. They should have left right then and there for the planet that Lorne and his team were on, they could be dead by the time that they leave and it would be all of their fault for not coming sooner.

~~~~Back on Abaroia~~~~~~

It's been nearly a week since Natalie, Lorne, James and Emilia were captured by Altozia and his people on Abaroia. No matter what they said or told Altozia he still wouldn't believe that they were just explorers, but then again it's kind of hard to believe them when the only one who wasn't dressed up like a person from Atlantis was Natalie and all the others had their off world garb. Kind of hard to lie to someone when the evidence was right in front of your captors eyes. Over the time that they have been there Altozia has had fun in trying to break all of them in the slowest and most painful ways possible, mostly though, Altozia went for Natalie and James since they were the ones who talked back the most and caused the most trouble but they never gave in, they refused to.

"God Jammer, I told you to not take the heat for me. I'm a big girl." Natalie said as she looked down at James' broken body. "I don't need you to protect me." she said t4o him.

James slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Natalie with a pained expression. "you're my sister, not by blood but my sister. I won't let anyone hurt you." he said to her and caressed the side of her face and smiled at her. "I'll always protect you Nat, even if you say you can handle yourself I'd still put myself in the line of fire for you."

Natalie shook her head at her friend, "you are such an idiot, you know that." she said to him with a laugh. "When we get back to Atlantis I am so gonna kick your ass, get you drunk and then kick your ass while you have a hangover and then we are gonna do it all over again."

That made James laugh dryly, "Can't wait." he said and then gave a raspy laugh but groaned in pain once he did that.

Because he took the brunt if the attacks that Altozia was giving to Natalie he ended up the worse for wear; he had a stab wound in his abomination that wouldn't stop bleeding, he had a broken leg that had some of the bone peaking out of his skin and there was a massive infection in his leg because they didn't have anything sanitary to clean the wound with. And because of the infection he had broken out into sweats and had a really high fever which was becoming more and more dangerous and the higher his fever was the more delirious he got.

"I'm not scared Nat," James said as he laid his hand on Natalie's. "It'll all be okay soon, you and the others will get saved." he said to her with a small sad smile on his face.

Natalie looked at him sharply, "And you too James, you're gonna get saved too." she said to him.

At that James shook his head at her sadly, "I'm gonna die here, I know I am. But you, you are going to live." he said confidently.

"You are too, I don't care what you say. You are going to live James." Natalie said not wanting to hear any death talk from him.

James looked at Natalie sadly, he opened his mouth to say something on the subject but decided not too. Natalie was stubborn and wouldn't listen to him, "Look Nat you gotta take care of yourself okay, you're injured just as bad as I am. The only difference is that you don't have a broken leg."

"Don't worry James," Natalie said waving his concern off. "I'll be fine. Once we get to Atlantis we'll have Carson and Keller look at us and they'll heal us all up and then after that you and I will have a drinking night and get totally wasted." she said to him with a playful smile.

"Okay Nat," James said letting her live in her little fantasy world, why make her feel even more pain then what she was already in.

For the next few hours James, Natalie, Emilia and Lorne sat in relative silence, there were a few groans and gasps of pain when someone moved wrong and hit an injury but mostly no one said anything. Everyone just thinking about the predicament that they were in, hoping that maybe they would be saved soon or that maybe all of the guards and Altozia would get drunk and they would be able to escape this place.

Suddenly a series of knocks interrupted the four's silence, the two guards opened the door and Altozia waltzed in and had a sick, sinister smile on his face as he looked upon the four prisoners who occupied the room.

"Enjoying yourselves?" he asked sarcastically.

Lorne glared at him, "What do you want?" he demanded.

Altozia smirked, "No need to be hostile I just wanted to check and see how my dear friends are doing today. It seems to me that your friend over there isn't going to last very long." he said with a gesture towards James.

"Don't you look at him," Natalie growled. "You have no right."

"I don't care," he replied to her. "This is my land, I can do as I wish." he said and walked towards where James was and poked his finger at it which made James scream in agony – any sudden movement of that leg made him feel intense pain.

"Don't," Natalie screamed and pushed Altozia away.

"Leave him alone," Lorne said. "You've done enough damage." he said told him fiercely.

Once Altozia recovered from being pushed to the ground by Natalie he stood up and glared down at her where she was crouched protectively in front of James, "You're going to regret that girl, believe me you are." he said and grabbed her up by the arm and hauled her out of the room and to the one he seems to like to torture her and the others in for information.

The second that they two entered the room Altozia threw Natalie down onto the cold ground and then securely shut the door behind him and then turned towards Natlaie and stalked towards her like a hunter. Natalie scrambled to her feet and backed away from him, she wouldn't let him touch her, she refused to let him touch her, he was death.

"Come Natalie, I wont hurt you." Altozia said extending his arms in a peaceful gesture.

Natalie spat at his hands, "You are not allowed to use my name, you are not human enough." she said to him in anger.

He laughed at that, "What am I then? If not human, what am I Girl." he said condescendingly.

"You are an animal, a monster. No better then the wraith." she said viciously.

"Wraith?" he questioned and just stared at her for a few seconds. "I am better then the wraith, better then you." he said to her.

At that Natalie laughed dryly, "You wish you were as good as wraith, with them at least you know what is going to happen. They're going to kill you for your life force, with you, who knows what will happen." she said to him.

Once those words left Natalie's mouth Altozia drew his dagger and jumped at her and slashed across her stomach, not deep enough to kill her but enough that the blood soaked through her shirt within a few moments. "You do not talk to me as if I am some lowly servant. I am not your equal."

"You know," Natalie said as she and Altozia continued circling each other. "Angry people make angry mistakes."

Altozia glared at her and then motioned towards the guards, "Hold her." he demanded and before Natalie was able to respond or protect herself the two massive guards grabbed her arms and held her in place so that she wouldn't be able to move.

Natalie tried to fling herself free but nothing worked, giving up she stared at Altozia with a hateful look. "So this is you being honorable, holding a defenseless woman so that you can attack her without getting any retaliation?" she scoffed.

"You and I both know that you are anything but defenseless even without weapons," Altozia said to her harshly. "You will pay for speaking such words as you have against me, I do not allow people who say things such as that to go unpunished."

"Go ahead, be a slimy little worm who needs help to beat and torture a girl." she said to him challengingly.

All he did in response to that glare, slowly he staled forward dragging the knife along her leg, up her side which was already bleeding near her neck and down her arms but he never pressed it hard enough to draw blood. Suddenly he drew his arm up and slammed the knife into her thigh making Natalie gasp from pain but not cry out, she was trying to keep from crying out because she knew that was exactly what Altozia wanted from her.

When that didn't get the kind of reaction from Natalie like he expected her shoved one of the guards out of the way but commanded the other to stay where he was, "This is gonna hurt." he told her and took a hold of her arm and twisted it around hard, Natalie tried to keep the cry of pain in but she couldn't help but let it escape when she felt Altozia break her arm.

"Put her back with the others,"Altozia demanded and gave a flippant wave of his hand towards Natalie and turned away from her.

Once back in the room with the others Natalie completely ignored her wounds and went straight to James' side and started to care for his wounds, he was worse off then she was and even more with infection wrecking havoc on his body. Natalie knew that he was dying, she knew that it was doubtful that he would make it off of the planet alive but she wanted to be in denial and pretend, just for the moment, that he was going to survive and that they would be back on Atlantis getting drunk off their asses soon enough.


	5. Gone

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter five

Morning came soon enough and Natalie was woken up by the sound of someone opening the door loudly, blearily she opened her eyes she saw Altozia with two guards the latter two carrying James' body out of the door.

"No leave him alone," she screamed waking her friends up but she didnt care, she would be damned if she let Altozia have her friend.

Altozia pushed her back when she tried to jump towards James and laughed in her face, "He is dead Girl, stone cold dead. There is no point in keeping his body around now." he taunted.

Natalie glared, "Let him go NOW!" she demanded.

"No," Altozia said and kicked at her broken arm when she tried to go for him once again. "He is dead." he said and then he gestured at the two guards that were carrying James' body and left the room the door making a resounding thump sound when it shut.

Carefully Lorne and Emilia made their way over to Natalie's side, they knew she was strong and didn't like to show when she was hurt or in pain but this was James' who died, he was like her brother she was going to take this badly.

"Natalie?" Lorne questioned. "Are you-"

She waved her hand at him, "Not now, I cant talk about it now. Just later, at Atlantis. Please Lorne?" she begged. "I just cant deal with everything right now."

He nodded at her and wrapped his arm around her good shoulder, "Okay. We'll just sit here." he said and looked at Emilia who nodded in agreement to that, neither wanted to upset Natalie.

~~~~Atlantis~~~~~

"All I want you to do is go in there find Lorne and the rest of his missing team and come straight back here, am I understood?" Carter asked as she was looking at John, Rodney, Ronon and Teyla, everyone but Rodney nodded.

Rodney looked at Carter curiously, "Not even to look for the ZPM that they were going there for?" he asked.

At that he earned glares from his teammates as well as one from Carter, "No Rodney, not even for the ZPM. Save our people and then come straight back here, we'll talk about doing another mission going to that planet later but for right now lets worry about saving Lorne and his team." she said to him.

"Alrighty then," John said looking at his team. "Lets get this show on the road and go save some people." he said and led the way through the Stargate with Ronon and Rodney following behind him.

Before Teyla went through the Stargate she looked at Carter, "Everything will be fine, we will bring them all back. Do not worry." she said and walked through the gate.

~~~~Back on Abaroia~~~~~~

It's been hours since Natalie had to watch James' body get carried out of the room she and the others were being held in, since then Natalie has barely spoken a word and if she did it was either something about James' or how she was going to kill Altozia. A few times Emilia and Lorne tried to comfort Natalie but all they got in return were biting remarks so they decided to stay quiet and just let her vent her anger and be there for her when she needed them.

A sudden loud commotion near the front of the building brought the three out of their thoughts, for a while the three just listened to what was going on outside the door of the room they were in. On the other side of the door they could hear yelling and screaming from the Abaroian people and hear gun shots going off.

"It's gotta be Sheppard." Lorne said, fight after he said that there were a series of gun fires and the sound of something exploding.

Natalie chuckled, "hard to say it isn't him with all the noise he's making." she replied.

"We're saved then," Emilia said happily.

At that both Lorne and Natalie looked at Emilia with less then convinced looks, "They may be there to save us but it doesn't mean that we're out of the woods yet Emi." Lorne said. "We have to make it out of here, pass those guards at our door and then probably pass a whole bunch of other guards before we get to where John and his team are at."

"So what are we going to do then?" Emilia asked. "Just sit here and wait to be saved or killed?" she asked in frustration, she wanted to get off of this damn planet, she was tired, hungry and in pain from what Altozia had done to her and she just wanted to get back to Atlantis.

Natalie glanced at Emilia, "Well we could do that but the odds aren't exactly in our favor if we choose that, but if we fight we'll be more likely to survive this and live to see another day." she told her.

"We'll have to take the guards out," Lorne said looking at the two girls. "You up for the task Nat?" he asked worriedly looking at her bruised and beaten form, knowing that if she does too much that her body will give out but the situation is calling for it – its a life or death situation.

"Yeah I think I can wrestle up enough energy to bust out of this place. These are just surface wounds, these injuries aren't gonna kill me." Natalie said to him and stood up and headed straight for where the guards were standing nervously at, obviously the gunfire and all of the fighting that was gong on was starting to scare them, should never have young warriors guard the door.

When the guards noticed Natalie approaching them they immediately took on a defensive pose and held their swords up to her as if they expected her to attack at any given moment which made her smile. "What are you two strapping young men doing with those swords, I am not armed. I can't hurt you." she said to them softly, suing the most sultry voice that she could muster. "I can't hurt you, I'm injured."

"All warriors must keep the guard up at all times no matter how innocent a prisoner may look." the shorter one of the two said almost robotically.

Natalie giggled when he said that, if she didn't have to convince them she was harmless she would grimace from how fake she sounded – just like the girls she used to go to high school with. "Come on does it look like I would be able to take you two; I am very short, injured and have no weapons. You have nothing to worry about." she said to them coyly.

When those words left her mouth the two guards relaxed a bit more but didn't lose their defensive manner, they have heard what Altozia told them of the heavily armed woman – she was a force to be reckoned with. Once Natalie saw that they weren't so much on the alert she nodded to Emilia and Lorne who were behind her and attacked the guards, the second the guards realized what was going on they started to defend themselves but it was pointless from the start. They were young kids and Natalie, Emilia and Lorne were more skilled then them in the fighting area. Natalie did a roundhouse kick to the bigger guard on the side of the head and knocked him into the wall on his head, from the power of her kick it would be a wonder if he was still alive.

"What now?" Emilia asked as she watched Natalie pick up one of the guards sword and then pocketed a knife.

Lorne gestured towards the door, "We go get our crap and leave." he said to her as if it should be obvious.

So with that said Natalie, Emilia and Lorne left the room and stealthily made their way towards the armory, but just as they were getting past the torture room as they liked to call it the door suddenly opened and Natalie was grabbed from behind making her scream in surprise.

"Nat!" Emilia said with wide eyes.

"Just go," Natalie said as she struggled to get out of her captors arms. "Go and get out of here." she yelled at them.

Lorne looked torn between getting himself and Emilia out of there and going to help Natalie with fighting the man off, "Nat-"

Natalie glared at him, "Leave." she screamed at him and started to fight and punch the man that had her held against him, even if she was injured pretty badly she wasn't about to let some stranger manhandle her.

"Look," The man taunted as he dragged her into the torture room where there were three other guys. "You're all alone now, and defenseless." he said to her.

When he said that Natalie gave him a look and lifted the sword that was in her hands, "And what's this? Nothing?" she asked sarcastically.

"I doubt a girl like you knows how to use it," one of the other men said to her with a leering smile.

That made Natalie laugh, "Believe me I know how yo use it, you'll find out first hand." she told him with a fake happy voice.

One of the others laughed at her, "You are injured, I doubt you will be able to fight your way out of this predicament and even if you do you will die within a few days from the severity of your injuries" he said to her in amusement.

"I guess we'll see won't we." Natalie said and steeled herself for a fight where it was very unlikely that she would survive.


	6. Savior and Returning to Atlantis

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of hte girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction twoarsd on and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship wiht one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen andtradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter six

For the most part Natalie was holding her own against the soldiers but not without injuries, there was only one of her and there were four of them so it's safe to say that it wasn't her fault that she was getting hit more then she was getting hits at them. Not to mention she had one broken arm so it was a bit complicating to swing her sword at the soldiers and chop their heads off, which she really was itching to do.

"Seriously?" Natalie asked rhetorically she she clutched at her stomach where one of the guys just stabbed her. "What is with you people and stabbing?" she asked with a wheeze, the last few days and the fighting that she was doing was starting to take a toll on her.

One of them just smirked at her and swung his sword at her but Natalie raised the one that she was using towards him and blocked the attack, her arm was killing her but she ignored it she would rather be alive then die because it hurt her to move her broken arm. Natalie wanted to give up, she wanted to just let go and forget about everything – the pain, losing James and the fear that she's been hiding but she knew she had to keep on fighting, someone would come and find her, save her.

Just as Natalie was getting ready to swing her sword at one of the soldiers again she heard Sheppard in the background yell for everyone to retreat and head back to the Stargate. In the back of her mind Natalie knew that they might not be able to save everyone but she was hoping against hope that it wouldn't come to that. Even so, Natalie would not go down as a coward if she was going to be left on this planet, she would fight until her last breath. She would honor James and honor her people and fight to the death.

"All your people are leaving you," One of the men taunted. "Why are you still fighting?"

Natalie glared at him, "Because I still have honor, I won't go down begging for death or for you to let me go. I would sacrifice my life so that they can get off this planet and away from scum like you." she hissed at him.

"You're going to die." a pot bellied middle aged man said to her.

"I would rather die for them then to die because I gave up," Natalie said fiercely.

With that said Natalie straightened herself and looked at the men in defiance and raised her sword at them to show she was not going to back down, she would fight to her last breath no matter what they said or did to her. They laughed at her, not thinking that she would actually be able to keep on fighting them after everything that she's been through but she proved them wrong when she swung her sword at the youngest and most muscled up guy of the group; she only nicked him because he stepped out of the way but they got the picture that she wasn't going to give up.

"Shouldn't of done that," one of the soldiers said to her with a shake of his head and went at Natalie.

While Natalie was in the middle of fighting off the four soldiers, Ronon, one of Sheppard's teammates kicked open the door and made his way into the room and all the soldier's stopped for a second and stared at the massive Satedan man with dreadlocks. While they were distracted Natalie took her chance impaled the soldier that was closest to her, in the chest with the sword she had.

Ronon smirked at her when she did that and jumped in the fight when the soldier's realized what was going on, Ronon went up against two of the bigger soldiers and Natalie was fighting the youngest one. The two worked well together; fighting, kicking, shooting and killing the soldier's without either of them having to say anything and warn the other about what the other was going to do – they just knew what they had to be done to defeat them and did it.

"You okay?" Ronon asked as they finished off the last two soldier's.

At that Natalie laughed dryly as she held her side where she was slashed, "No, not even close to it." she said and groaned as she tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain in her side, from her broken ribs most likely.

Ronon bent down to her level and looked her in the eye, "Can you make it to the Stargate?" he asked seriously.

"I can try," Natalie said and made to get up but hissed in pain when she used her broken arm.

Seeing Natalie have trouble getting up, Ronon grabbed Natalie under the arms and lifted her up into a standing positing. Quietly Ronon opened the door of the room and looked out into the hallway and saw that there were two soldiers at the end of it looking for any Atlantean's that may be there.

Ronon turned towards Natalie, "You got any weapons on you?" he asked.

Natalie raised the sword, "Does this count?" she asked with a half smile.

"Gun would be better but it'll do." Ronon said and motioned for her to be quiet and follow him out of the room.

The second Natalie and Ronon were out off the room Ronon fired his gun at the two soldier's before they had time to yell at anyone or attack them, before they were able to move down the hallway and make their way out of the building Natalie started to see black spots in her vision and from past experience she definitely knew that was not a good thing. Suddenly stopping, Natalie leaned against the closest wall and closed her eyes for a second to stop the black spots and her dizziness. Natalie knew this feeling, back in high school she fainted from not getting enough to eat and that was exactly what this felt like but she was trying to will herself to stay conscious. If she fainted then it would be that much harder for Ronon to get himself and her out of there, already ti was going to be hard because of all the injuries that Natalie sustained.

"Vance, hey Vance are you with me?" Ronon demanded standing in front of her.

Blinking a few times to clear her vision Natalie looked up at Ronon dazedly, "Yeah, I'm fine. I can do this." she said to him confidently but not sounding like she was all there.

Before Ronon was able to respond to that Natalie's eyes suddenly rolled back and she started to fall to the ground, thankfully though Ronon caught Natalie before she was able to fall to the ground and injure herself more. Hauling Natalie into his arms Ronon situated her so that he could still have use of his gun hand and hoot his way out of this place so that he could get him and Natalie to the Stargate.

Glancing down the hallway again, Ronon made sure the way was clear and quietly as a six foot five man could, made his way down the hallway and looked around the corners and quickly flattened himself against the wall when he saw a few men around the corner. Shifting Natalie to lay on his shoulder so that he could more easily use his arm he rounded the corner and quickly shot two of the soldier's that were at the end and ducked back around the wall as the other two started to shoot at him.

Inching forward a bit, Ronon saw that one guard was at the door and the other was near the hallway that led to the main room of the building. Holding tight onto Natalie's legs so she didn't fall when he started shooting and making a run for it from the building to the Stargate, he stepped out from the wall and shot at the guard that was at the hallway first and ducked down when the guy at the door tried to shoot at him and Natalie. Standing back up from his crouched position Ronon glared at the guard at the door and shot him, kicking the door open from the weaponry room Ronon quickly started to make a run for it- heading straight for the Stargate.

The second everyone realized what was going they started to shoot at him and Natalie, he did his best to protect Natalie from the bullets that were flying at them from all directions. Ronon headed straight for the woods and weaved in and out between the tree's, making it harder for the soldiers to shoot at them and giving him time to try and get them off his and Natalie's trail.

Ronon jumped over a fallen tree and the second he hit the ground he felt a bullet hit him right in the shoulder, thankfully it was on the shoulder that Natalie wasn't slung across or else she would have been dead. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder Ronon kept going on, determined to make it to the Stargate.

Breaking through the tree's and out of the wood's Ronon saw the Stargate and went straight for it, shooting at the soldier's that were still following him. Quickly and as gently as he could Ronon set Natalie down on the ground so that he could dial the Atlantis gate address into the DHD so that he could get himself and Natalie out of there. Ronon went back over to Natalie and crouched next to her, shooting at anyone that he could see as he waited for the Stargate to open so that he and Natalie could go through – Natalie needed medical attention immediately.

A few moments later and the Stargate was open, picking Natalie up into his arms Ronon ran at the gate not even stopping to shoot back at anyone who shot at them, just determined to get Natalie and himself through the gate.

~~~~~Atlantis~~~~~~

"Unscheduled off world activation."

Carter looked over at the technician who was looking at the computer's, "Who is it?" she asked as she started down the stairs towards the Stargate.

"It's Ronon's IDC," they answered her.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Sheppard asked impatiently. "Let him through, I need to kick his ass." he answered.

The technician looked at Carter for approval and she nodded at him, "Do it Chuck." she said and turned her attention back towards the Stargate as they lowered the shields to allow Ronon to come through – hopefully with Natalie.

Slowly the seconds passed by but soon, Ronon came running out of the Stargate with Natalie in his arms who was bleeding all over the place; her legs, her arms, her stomach, her face – there wasn't one place that didn't look like it was beaten up and bloody.

The second Dr. Carson Beckett saw the limp form of Natalie he and his team rushed over to where her and had Ronon set her on the gurney as he checked over Natalie's vitals, making sure that she was still breathing and had a good pulse.

"Alright lets get 'er up to the infirmary the lass needs some work done." Carson demanded and he and his medical team rushed Natalie out of the Gate room and towards the infirmary so that they could assess her injuries and fix her up.


	7. Wake up Call

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of the girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction towards one and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship with one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen and tradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter seven

~~~~~Atlantis: 6 Days later~~~~~~

It's been days since Natalie was brought back to Atlantis by Ronon and she has been unconscious for every single one of those days, all of her friends visited her and talked to her even though she wouldn't be able to respond to them, hoping that maybe she would wake up to the sound of them talking but so far there hasn't been any luck.

"You Know," Emilia said from next to Natalie's bed in the infirmary. "I'm starting to think that I'm gong to have to take drastic measure's to make you wake up from your beauty sleep. I know you like to sleep and everything Nat but sleeping for a week is a bit much don't you think?" she asked rhetorically.

"And I know you're in pain, we're all in pain, but you more so then everyone else because of James but you can't keep yourself locked up in your mind forever." Emilia stated after pausing for a few moments. "Plus everyone is worried about you here, Lorne's visited, so have Sheppard, and Teyla, Ronon which was kind of freaking me out with his whole intense stare thing, and surprisingly Rodney came even." she said and sighed heavily."If you don't wake up from this I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

"You wouldn't be able to," Natalie said hoarsely from not using her voice for so long and looked up at Emilia who had jumped out of her chair in surprise when she heard Natalie talking for the first time in almost a week.

Once Emilia recovered from seeing Natalie up and awake she practically threw herself at Natalie and hugged her friend tightly, "Thank god you're awake, I was beginning to lose hope." she said to her.

Natalie patted her friend on her back, "Thank Emi and I'm happy to see you and everything but you're hurting me. Injured here." she said tightly.

"Sorry," Emilia said and quickly let Natalie go. "I'm just so happy that you're finally awake."

That made Natalie give a half pained smile, "Me too Emilia, me too." she replied as she tried to shift herself into a sitting position without paining herself too much.

Emilia gasped suddenly, "I should go get Keller or Carson or someone, they told me to tell them the second you woke up." she said and started to head for the door but Natalie stopped her.

"Don;t interrupt them, they're probably at lunch." Natalie said to her. "I'm sure I can wait until they get done with what they are doing to be seen by them." she said to her reasonably but Emilia would hear none of it.

Turning towards Natalie, Emilia put her hands on her hips. "I'm not surprised Natalie I can see that you are in pain, you need some pain meds which means I need to go and get Keller or Carson for you." she said to her. "So stop being such a tough guy, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." she said as she quickly left the infirmary.

"Yeah, not like I'm goin' anywhere." Natalie said to herself and hissed in pain when she shifted the wrong way.

Ten minutes passed of Natalie staring at the infirmary walls boredly when Dr. Keller finally made an appearance and rushed over to Natalie's side, surprisingly Emilia was no where to be found. Natalie figured that Keller probably wanted to look over Natalie without Emilia being there to disturb them, not to mention the whole patient/doctor confidentiality thing.

Keller took the chart that was hanging off of the foot of Natalie's bed and sat down in the chair that was next to her bed and looked at her with a half smile, "So how are you feeling?" she asked.

At that Natalie laughed dryly, "Emotionally or physically?" she asked but cut Keller off before she could answer that. "Emotionally I'm numb, I can't believe that James is dead but if you are referring to physically I hurt but it's bearable at least." she said to her with a pained shrug.

"Nat," Keller said at a loss for words.

Natalie waved off her friends concern, "Don;t worry Keller I'll be fine." she said to her with a sigh.

Keller looked at her doubtfully, "Natalie. IF you need to talk at all, about anything. Just random girl stuff, about what happened on that planet, about James, anything at all I'll be here for you." she said to her seriously.

"Thanks Keller," Natalie said with a smile. "I know you are but I'm not the really share my emotions kind of person, I'm more of a deal with it in solitude." she said to her.

That made Keller look at her sadly, "I hope you don't Natalie, you'll need to talk to someone." she said to her.

Natalie shook her head, "Can we change the subject?" she asked in annoyance.

Giving in Keller nodded and went over to the medicine cabinet so that she could give Natalie something for the pain that she knew her patient was feeling, "Here this should take the edge off of the pain but it wont get rid of it completely." she said rolling her eyes at her friend.

Natalie refused to take anything that would completely numb her, she said that you needed to be alert at all times in case something happened that you weren't expecting. She thought that you always needed to be ready for a fight and be able to hold your own against them instead of being half dazed because you took some pain meds.

"Thanks," she said as she watched Keller inject something into her IV. "So does that mean I can leave?" she asked her hopefully.

That made Keller laugh, "Don't even think about it Natalie, you're staying over night for observation just to be on the safe side." she told her.

Natalie groaned, "C'mon Keller, I feel perfectly fine." she whined at her.

"No, you're staying here and that;s that." Keller said sternly, "Deal with it."

pouting Natalie tried to cross her arms but her cast covered arm hindered that so she opted to just have an annoyed look on her face, "How's Lorne? Is he okay? Not injured seriously or anything?" she asked.

Keller shook her head, "Nothing as bad as you, he got a slash on his arm but otherwise he was like Emilia and only have a few scraps and bruises on them." she said to her as she wrote a few things down on her chart. "Look I'm gonna go and do some research and check on my other patients but I'll be by to check on you later. That okay?"

"Yeah," Natalie answered with a nod. "thanks Keller." she told her sincerely.

Keller just smiled and left, once she was gone Natalie sighed heavily and laid her head back down against the pillow on her hospital bed. All she wanted to do at that moment was leave the infirmary, she hated hospital's and anything to do with them ever since she was a kid and every time she got stuck in them when she got back from a mission she got restless and antsy and now was no different.

"Natalie?"

Shaking herself out of her daze Natalie looked up and saw Teyla, "Teyla! God it's good to see you. It's been so long." she said to her long time friend, Teyla was the first person Natalie became friends with when she arrived on Atlantis and was one of the people who didn't doubt her fighting ability just because she was a girl.

"It has my friend," Teyla replied as she sat down in the chair besides Natalie's bed. "you have been unconscious for almost a week now. We were all getting worried for you."

That made Natalie smile sadly, "Sorry." she said apologetically.

Teyla smiled at her, "It was not your fault, your body needed to recover from what happened on that planet. I am just happy that you are fine now and are on the road to recovery from your ordeal." she said to her.

"Yeah, hopefully." Natalie said and looked down at her hands. "Do you know if we even got the ZPM that we were there for in the first place?" she asked suddenly.

At that Teyla looked at her sadly, "No Natalie, I am afraid we were not able to retrieve it. We were concentrating on bringing you and the rest of your team back to Atlantis. There was no time to go and find the ZPM." she told her with a hesitant smile

Natalie shrugged, "Oh, oh well. There are other ZPM's around." she said trying to hide the fact that she hated that they went through all of that and they still came out empty handed.

Teyla grabbed her friends uninjured hand, "What is important Natalie, is that you and the rest of your team are not seriously injured and that you made it back to Atlantis safe." she told her.

"Not all of us were that lucky," Natalie said darkly, yet again thinking about James when she was trying to make it a point not to do so.

Before Teyla was able to respond to that comment there was a knock on the side of the wall of the infirmary, the two girls glanced over there and saw that John and Ronon were standing in the doorway of the infirmary.

John grinned at Natalie, "Hey Nat, heard you were awake from your week long beauty sleep." he said jokingly.

"Yeah, got what I needed to become beautylicious." Natalie replied jokingly, as much as she was in a dark mood she couldn't help but joke around with John he was just that type of person that always made you laugh or act like a kid again.

"So how you holdin' up then?" John asked as he sat on the edge of her bed.

At that comment Natalie shrugged, "Good other then I'm notg gonna be able to do anything when I get out of here. They're treating me like a caged animal." she said to him with a huff of annoyance. "No fighting, no going off world, no going on any missions, no practicing, no heavy lifting, no helping in the weapons bay, no sparring, no testing new weapons or modified weapons. Basically there's a lot of things I can't do and very little that I can do, so I am going to be bored out of my mind for a long while until I get healed up." she said with a put off expression.

"Wouldn't you rather be healed and able to fight then be a hindrance?" Ronon asked speaking up for the first time.

Natalie blinked a few times before she responded to that, "Well, yeah. I guess but I get antsy after not doing anything for so long." she replied.

"I am sure there are many things here on Atlantis that you can pass your time with while waiting to heal." Teyla replied with a soft smile on her face.

"I hope so," Natalie said with a wide yawn.

John smiled down at Natalie when she did that, "And I think that is our cue to go." he said as he looked between Teyla and Ronon. "See ya Nat, get better." he told her and headed towards the door.

Teyla squeezed Natalie's hand one last time, "We will have lunch together once you are out of here." she s aid and followed John's suit and left as well leaving only Natalie and Ronon.

Ronon stayed for a few seconds longer than the rest, looking at Natalie. "Get some rest." he said to her gruffly and left.

For a few moments Natalie stared after where Ronon left and shrugged, she figured that was the closest thing she would get to him saying goodbye or wishing her to get better soon. It was better than nothing, mostly he didn't talk to anyone but Teyla and John. Shifting a bit in the bed Natalie tried to find a comfortable position so that she could get some sleep, even if she's been asleep for six days straight a person still can get tired easily.


	8. Thank you Ronon

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of the girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction towards one and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship with one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen and tradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter eight

"Well Natalie I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that you are free to leave," Keller said to Natalie the next day when she finished doing one last test on Natalie to be sure that she was on the mend and that none of her wounds had opened up and broken the stitches.

"Happy?" Natalie questioned with a grin. "More like ecstatic." she said as she hopped off of the bed that she had been forced to stay in. "So can I leave?" she asked hopefully.

Keller rolled her eyes at how eager Natalie was and nodded, "Yeah you can go, but," she started before Natalie could leave. "Don't do anything too strenuous that would delay your healing time."

Natalie pointed at herself with a look, "Me? Come on I would never do that." she said to her with a smirk.

"I'm serious Natalie," Keller said with a sigh. "I know you, you've been in here too many times for me to not know you. So please, don't do anything that would be bad for you." she begged her, not wanting to have to deal with Natalie coming in to the infirmary every other day because she didn't listen to her.

Sighing Natalie gave Keller a soft smile, "Don't worry Keller I promise to not overexert myself okay." she said as she grabbed the change of clothes that Emilia had brought her to change into once she was released from the infirmary.

Staring at Natalie for a few moments Keller nodded, "If I hear about you doing something that you aren't supposed to I wont hesitate to put you into solitary." she threatened jokingly and walked away.

Closing the blinds around her bed Natalie didn't hesitate to strip out of the hospital clothes and into her normal everyday ones; she put on a loose fitted long sleeved scoop neck shirt, a pair of grey corduroy pants that were a tad bit too long and her boots. Once she had those on Natalie sighed in relief, glad to be in her own clothes once again. They made her feel that much more normal and like nothing had happened over the last two weeks.

Natalie wasted no time in high tailing it out of the infirmary, she wanted to spend as less time there as she could, she hated hospital's and anything that had to do with them. For a few minutes Natalie just wandered around Atlantis, not sure what she should do or where she should go but soon she grinned to herself and decided to go hunt out Ronon. He saved her after all from that awful planet, Natalie at least owed Ronon a thank you for risking his life to save her's.

After looking all over the place for Ronon, Natalie was unable to find the massive man. He wasn't in the gym, wasn't in the weapons bay, or in the conference room or anything like that. It seemed as if he just disappeared.

Shrugging to herself Natalie decided that since she couldn't find Ronon she's just go to the mess hall and get some food, it's been way too long since she's had real food and not the bare minimum stuff that she and the others had on Abaroia and even then they got the reject food that no one else would eat.

"Hey Nat," Emilia said as Natalie was walking towards the mess hall. "They finally let you out of the infirmary huh."

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, thank god. I was starting to feel like a caged animal and was going to resort to physical violence if they wouldn't let me go." she said with a halfhearted smirk on her face.

Emilia snorted in amusement when Natalie said that, "I'm sure Keller would have just loved that hmm." she responded with a small chuckle.

That just made Natalie shrug, "At least they would have people to heal then."

That made Emilia stare at her friend incredulously until she burst out laughing, "Evil little thing aren't you." said with a smile. "No wonder half of the men here are scared to piss you off."

"They aren't scared of me," Natalie defended. "Besides I'm picky. I want a guy who can actually take me in a fight and handle me and not be intimidated because I'm a weapon specialist." she said to her.

"Mmhmm," Emilia said in an unbelieving voice. "that's what they all say."

Natalie shook her head at her friend, "Whatever. I'll see you later." she said to her.

"See ya," Emilia responded as she got in a transporter to go to a different part of the city.

Shaking her head at her odd Italian born friend Natalie headed towards the mess hall, she was hungry and she'd be damned if she didn't get some food before the lunch shift was over.

Walking into the mess hall Natalie headed straight for the food, not even paying attention to anyone that was around her that she knew. The food took over all else. Grabbing a tray and balancing it on her arm that was in a cast Natalie started to pile food onto her plate, for most of her adult life Natalie thought of herself as a somewhat vegetarian but now after being on that planet for so long all Natalie wanted to eat now was some meat. Once she filled her tray up with food to the brim Natalie looked around for a place to sit, after a quick glance around the room Natalie smiled to herself when she saw Ronon sitting alone at a table in the back.

Taking a deep breath Natalie headed over to Ronon's table, before she was able to make her presence known and talk to him he looked up at her expectantly most likely wondering why she was standing in front of his table.

"Hey Ronon, I wont bother you for too long but I just wanted to come over and say thanks." she said hesitantly, she didn't know Ronon very well so she wasn't sure if she should approach him or not.

"What for?" he asked with his gravelly voice and looked up at her.

Natalie looked at him as if he was mentally insane, "Because you saved me Ronon. You saved me when I thought I was going to die." she told him seriously.

He looked at her for a few moments before he responded to that, "It's what I was there for, to save you and your team. Anyone else would've done the same thing." he told her with a shrug.

"No they wouldn't have Ronon," Natalie said shaking her head. "Most people who know they can't win leave. Not to mention people don't go against their commanding officer's orders like you did." she said and gave him a wryly smile. "Sheppard told you to leave and you didn't, if you wouldn't have done that I would be dead or worse." she said and shivered at the thought of what Altozia would have done for her if she was left on that planet.

"I don't leave people behind," Ronon told her simply. "I know I could save you and I did. N one deserves to be left on a planet like that." he said and then gestured to the chair in front of him with his fork. "Sit."

Natalie's eyes wined for a second not believing that Ronon, Ronon Dex was offering to let her sit down at the table with him. He didn't talk to many people that weren't his teammates and when he did it was usually when he was teaching some of the people on Atlantis new self defense moves or something like that. Not wanting to pass up this offer Natalie sat down in the proffered seat knowing that this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

For a while neither spoke, both comfortable with the silence that had settled between them but when the silence was broke it was Ronon who spoke up first. "You're a good fighter."

"Thanks," Natalie said and with a half smile and looked down at her tray. "I've been learning to fight since I was a kid, I'd hope that the past ten years had taught me something. "We're you expecting me to know nothing?" she asked him genuinely curious.

Ronon shrugged at that, "Didn't know you so I couldn't judge you," he told her. "But seeing you fight, very few people would have fought as hard as you with the injuries they had. You would have been a good soldier on my home planet Sateda." he told her honestly.

Hearing that Natalie looked up at him and stared into his eyes and smiled softly, "Thank you but I'm no soldier Ronon." she said and looked away from the table for a moment and then back at Ronon. "Never have been never will be, I didn't want to die there and I knew that I only had myself to count on to get out of there."

"You're good with weapons and loyal, you'd be a good soldier." Ronon said staring at her with his intense green/hazel eyes. "Trust me, I know."

Just as Ronon was about to respond to that John and Rodney decided to walk up and join the two specialist's at the table, interrupting the one on one that Natalie and Ronon were having but what can you do, friends have the worst timing sometimes. the second John said down he stared at Natalie and smirked.

"So how's miss Badass doing today?" John asked with a grin.

When he said that Natalie rolled her eyes and bit into the apple that was in her hand, "I'm not a badass Sheppard." she told him shaking her head at him in annoyance.

John laughed when she said that, "Yeah, right." he said looking at her doubtfully. "Not gonna even start to believe that Nat, especially with what Lorne and Emilia told us. Your a glutton for punishment."

At that Natalie gave him a solemn smile, "I did what I needed to." she said and looked down at her tray with glazed over eyes – thinking about that place and that week she and her friends were there made her shiver.

"You were brave," John argued with a determined look on his face.

Natalie shook her head at that, "I wasn't brave. I just did what I had to to get out of there, anyone else would have done the same thing if in the position."

"No," Ronon said shaking his head. "Not many people would have done the same thing as you did. You sacrificed yourself so that you could try and look at the place you were being kept and see if you could find a way to escape. Once you did that, you let yourself get recaptured so that you could tell your team what you saw and to make a plan of action to get out." he said to her seriously.

It was at that moment that Rodney decided to butt into the conversation, "In my opinion you should have kept on running to the gate and come back to Atlantis. We could have rescued you sooner instead of having to put yourself and you friends from obvious ungodly amounts of torture."

Natalie looked at him sharply and glared, "I didn't ask for your opinion did I McKay." she said reverting to use his surname so he knew that she was pissed. "Besides, I wasn't about to abandon my friends to suffer that kind of fate. Would you?"

Rodney shook his head slowly, "No but -"

"Rodney!" John reprimanded. "Just shut up, you're talking yourself into a grave as it is." he said with a heavy sigh.

At that Rodney huffed but didn't keep his mouth shut, "At least I didn't get anyone killed on that planet." he responded childishly.

Hearing that Natalie inhaled sharply, not believing that Rodney had just said that to her. So far, Natalie has barely had time to deal with the death of James and now here he is shoving it right in her face, blaming his death on her. Looking at Rodney darkly Natalie took pleasure in the shocked and frightened look he had on his face from what he just said, obviously he did not plan on saying that to her.

"You Rodney," Natalie growled threateningly. "Are a selfish pig, a little fucking canuck, pig." she stated angrily. "Do you even have any feelings whatsoever?"

"I-" Rodney started but was cut off by Natalie.

Natalie shook her head at him, "Don't answer that, none of your sad excuses are good enough for that insult." she told him breathing heavily. "How would you react if I said something like that about your team or your family, because that's what James was to me McKay. James was my family."

Both Ronon and John watched as Natalie chewed Rodney out and then spit him back up again – metaphorically of course. They had to give props to Rodney though for not even making an effort to defend himself verbally from her, Natalie had every right to yell and insult him and even cause him bodily harm but thankfully Natalie has yet to receive her weapons back since getting out of the infirmary.

"Go to hell!" Natalie yelled at Rodney loud enough for most of the mess hall to hear and then she stomped off out of there leaving her uneaten tray of food at the table.

Stalking out of the mess hall Natalie nearly ran into Teyla as she rounded the corner, Teyla tried to stop and ask Natalie what was wrong but Natalie didn't answer. All she told Teyla was to go to the mess hall and ask McKay why she was in such a mood, and then she continued on her way through the hallways so that she could go to her room and sleep, hopefully she'll be able to forget about the terrible conversation she had with Rodney.


	9. Drunken Arguments

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis whatsoever as awesome as it would be.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of the girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction towards one and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship with one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen and tradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

Chapter Nine

After sleeping for a good long while after her argument with Rodney Natalie decided it was time to do something fun to take her mind off of everything; James' death, her and the others time on that terrible planet and the recent argument with Rodney.

Smiling to herself Natalie thought of the perfect idea and touched her ear comm, "Hey Lorne come it, Lorne it's Vance come in." she stated.

"Yeah what is it Vance?" was the not so happy reply.

"I need to get good and drunk and it's depressing to get drunk by yourself so you and Emi are going to join me," Natalie more like commanded then asked.

There was a laugh on the other line, "We are are we?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes you are, because if not I will tell every single girl here with conviction, that you are indeed gay as Elton John." Natalie said with an evil tone of voice.

"Geeze woman, no need to threaten us." Lorne said to her. "Would've come anyways." he replied.

"Good, meet me at the east pier. Bring your alcohol supply," Natalie said to him. "Mine won't be enough."

With that said Natalie went over to the shelf that had her alcohol and stuff on it and threw it all in a bag and then left her room and started to make her way down to the east pier, hoping that she would be able to blow some steam off by drinking herself into oblivion that night. Natalie isn't usually one for drinking her problems away but this time was an exception, she's had a bad last few weeks counting the time when she was in a coma for almost a week.

Stepping off of the transporter Natalie made her way out to the pier so that she could see the ocean, she loved the warm night air of this planet and being able to see the ocean. Water has always been one thing, other then music, that has calmed Natalie down and helped her forget about everything around for at least a few moments.

"Hey Nat! Over here."

Looking down the pier Natalie saw Emilia and Lorne sitting near one of the edges but not close enough that they had their feet hanging off the edge, water and drunken people do not mix.

"So what's up with this spur of the moment lets get drunk shit?" Lorne asked once Natalie sat down next to him.

At that Natalie growled in annoyance, "Rodney McKay is the reason. He pissed me off and now I am going to get drunk." she said determinedly.

Lorne and Emilia looked at each other before at Natalie, "What did he say?" Emilia asked curiously.

"You don't want to know, believe me." Natalie said as she grabbed UV Blue Vodka out of the bag she brought and took a big swig of it. "All that matters is that he pissed me off and now I am drinking in retaliation for being angry."

"Your logic astounds me," Lorne said shaking his head at her as he grabbed one of the beers he brought with and opened it.

Emilia giggled at that, "Her logic astounds most people. I can't see how she can understand it herself at times." she said with a smirk in Natalie's direction.

At that Natalie rolled her eyes, "Hey it's not a bash Natalie night, it's a lets get drunk off our asses night." she said as she handed Emilia a plastic mug with Rum and Coke in it which she just made for her.

"Nat," Emilia whined. "I'm not in the mood to get drunk tonight."

Natalie raised a brow at her friend, "Amuse me Emilia." she said and forced the drink into her friends hands, ignoring her arguments.

"To James," Lorne said as she held up his beer.

"To James," both the girls said and they all clinked their glasses together and drank.

Lorne suddenly started laughing out of the blue making both girls look at him as if he was completely out of his mind, "What's your issue Lorne?" Emilia asked as she tried to scoot away from him a bit.

"I was remembering the first time that James and Natalie met," Lorne said in between his laughter.

Hearing the reason for her friends laughter Natalie couldn't help but snort in amusement, she would never forget that day that she met him. "God he was such a perv." she responded.

Emilia looked between the two curiously, "Well let me in, I wasn't here when this happened so dish." she commanded.

Natalie smiled, "I had just arrived, only been in Atlantis for about two weeks and you know, I was going through training and stuff like that before they would let me off world. Weir had me training with different people, at first she started me off with the female's on the base who know how to fight but I easily beat them and got bored, Teyla was one of the few who could actually give a decent fight."

"Soon enough I started to train with John, Lorne here and a few other guys. I was training with one of the bigger guys and Lorne and James were in the training room watching me spar, I was kicking this guys ass you know, which surprised everyone but suddenly while I was fighting James started to shout stupid perverted things at me. Like you have a hot ass, I'd like to teach you a thing or two outside of the training room and shit like that which distracted me enough to lose my match." Natalie shook her head when she said that last part.

Lorne interrupted, "And everyone knows that Natalie hates to lose a fight." he stated with a smirk.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Anyways, I was angry that he made me lose the fight. So I took my knife out and threw it at him, it landed barely below his crotch."

"Yeah you wanna know what James said," Lorne said barely holding in his amusement. "he said nice aim but Natalie gave him an evil smirk and asked him what he was talking about, she missed what she was aiming for. When she said that to him James eyes widened and he moved to cover his precious jewels so to say." he finished which made all three of them laugh uncontrollably at the first encounter Natalie and James had.

For the next few hours the three drank – Natalie and Emilia more so then Lorne, and the three told stories about James, missions that they've gone on, funny stories about James and just remembered their deceased friend basically.

"Oh fuck," Natalie said as she tripped over her own feet as she was dancing around on the pier which was making Lorne and Emilia.

"You okay Nat?" Lorne asked trying to not laugh at his inebriated friend.

"Okay?" Natalie questioned she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "More then okay, I'm fabulousish." she slurred.

Emilia was laying down on the pier and was laughing, "You're an amusing drunk Nat, you know that." she said to her.

Natalie huffed at her, "You, you always say that every, every, every time we get drunk together." she said pointing an accusing finger at her friend. "I love you guys, you know that. I love you so much. You are the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I don't know what I would do without you." she said to them dramatically and stumbled her way over to the two and pulled them both into a bone crushing hug.

"We love you too Nat," Lorne said as he patted his friend on the head.

"Good, cause if you didn't then I would have to say you are a very mean friend and that I don't like you anymore." she told him as she stood up.

Emilia looked at Natalie with bleary eyes, "We will ALWAYS love you Natalie." she said and fell back down onto the ground.

Natalie ignored her and started to dance around the pier reciting poetry at the top of her lungs, "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint volume of forgotten lore. While I nodded nearly napping, there suddenly came a tapping, as if someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. Tis a visitor I said, a visitor and nothing more."

Seeing as Natalie wasn't paying attention to what she was doing or where she was going she didn't see Ronon and Sheppard walking up along the pier towards where the three friends were until she hit a very hard chest.

Blinking a few times Natalie looked up and saw Ronon and then blinked a few more times before she grinned, "Ronon! John! Hi." she said excitedly and then tried to drag the two over to where Emilia and Lorne were but ended up nearly falling to the ground if it wasn't for Ronon catching her around the waist.

"Are you drunk?" Ronon asked trying to hide his amusement.

It was Lorne who answered that question, "Drunk as fish." he answered pointing at both Emilia and Natalie.

"What'd they drink?" Ronon asked as he looked at the two giggling girls.

"Vodka, Rum, Tequila but mostly vodka." Lorne answered shaking his head as Natalie and were screaming about something indecent or another.

Ronon glanced at John in question, "They're types of alcohol from Earth. Harsher then Ale and beer." John explained to him.

Lorne looked at the two, "Can you help me convince those two to get to bed, I've been trying for the last half and hour and no luck so far. I can handle Emilia but Natalie, she's too stubborn and hard headed." he explained.

"We got Natalie, you go get Emilia into bed." John said and waved the man off and watched as he dragged Emilia off.

The two turned back to Natalie who was once again dancing around the pier singing to herself with a grin on her face, it seemed she was doing much better now then she had been earlier that after noon. Taking a deep breath John walked over to where Natalie was dancing and grabbed her by the shoulder making her stop, she turned towards him and pouted.

"What?" she whined at him. "I wanna dance. _We can dance if we want to, we can leave all your friend's behind cause your friends don't dance._" she sang.

Ronon watched in amusement as John tried to make Natalie stop talking and dancing and basically trying to get away from him and drink some more, thankfully though, Lorne had taken all of the alcohol with him when he went to take Emilia back to her room.

"How about this Natalie," John gritted through his teeth. "If you come with us we'll let you play with Ronon's gun." he suggested which earned a glare from Ronon.

Hearing that Natalie couldn't help but snort, "God John, I don't even know the man very well and already you're trying to push him off on me? What are you a pimp?" she asked laughing.

"I didn't mean it that way," John said as he rubbed his forehead. "God who knew you were such a pervert when drunk." he said more to himself then anyone else.

Ronon decided to take action since John didn't seem to be making any progress with Natalie, he walked right up to her and picked her up in his arms bridal style and started to walk back towards Atlantis so that they could take her to her room and let her sleep off her drunkenness.

"Hey lemme go." Natalie said half halfheartedly trying to get out of Ronon's arms.

"Stop," Ronon demanded in his deep growling voice and surprisingly Natalie stopped.

John patted Natalie on the head, "Aren't you a cute drunk." he said to her.

Natalie stared up at John for a few moments from her position in Ronon's arms and glared at John, "Fuck off. Who asked you." she said to him and then yawned only seconds later.

"Sleep," Ronon stated and pushed her head to lean against his shoulder.

Deciding that it would probably be best to not argue with them while she was drunk Natalie did as she was told and laid her head against Ronon's shoulder and closed her eyes, she was feeling a bit dizzy and light headed so it would probably do her good to get some sleep.


	10. Saying Good Bye and Breaking Down

A/N: as always not mine as mcuh as i wis ha certain dread lcoked satedan male was he's not.

I wanna say thanks to my few reviewer's i have. Your support is always welcome.

And lastly to someone who made a comment about my last chapter about how the guys knew wehre natalie's room is, well here's the thing. Natalie and Teyla are friend's and she ahs shwon John where Ntalie's room was once when tehy were passing by it in the hallway or something. I dont know thats the best i can come up with. It jsut made the story more intersting to hadd that in there.

Chapter ten

Waking up the next day Natalie groaned when she remembered what had happened the night before; she, Emilia and Lorne had gotten drunk off their asses. Well not Lorne but Natalie and Emilia definitely, and then Ronon and John came and she was obviously not censoring herself whatsoever and said some perverted things and well it just ended up being a very bad and embarrassing memory.

"Great," Natalie said to herself as she got out of bed and headed towards her closet to change into something, it was the day of James' memorial service which was most of the reason why she wanted to get drunk the night before.

Before Natalie as able to even halfway to her closet there was a chime at her door signaling that there was something wanting to see her, walking over there Natalie waved her hand over the censor and her door opened to reveal and grumpy looking Emilia.

When Natalie saw her she couldn't help but grin, her friend was obviously suffering from a hang over. "How are ya feeling sweet cheeks?" she asked condescendingly.

"I blame this all on you," Emilia said and plopped herself down in the chair in Natalie's room. "I hate you for not getting hangover's. How is that possible even?" she asked and crossed her arms.

Natalie shrugged, "Don't know but I'm not gonna complain about it." she said to her and sat down besides her friend on the bed. "I wish we could just skip over this day." she said sadly.

Emilia looked down at her friend and ran her hands through Natalie's hair, "Me too Nat, me too. But we can't and you know that and you and I both know that we wouldn't dream of skipping James' funeral. He meant to much to us." she said to her.

"Yeah," Natalie said as she sat up. "You look nice." she said taking in the skirt and shirt that her friend had on.

That made Emilia smile, "You better get dressed," she told her.

Natalie nodded at that and went back over to her closet and looked through the sparse nice looking clothes that she owned, most were casual/dressy kind of clothes nothing close to being appropriate for a funeral but that's what she gets for not going back to Earth in the last however many years.

"Need help?" Emilia asked with a laugh.

Groaning Natalie nodded, "Please." she said to her desperately.

So for the next fifteen minutes Natalie and Emilia went through Natalie's clothes to look for something that was nice and dressy looking, after trying on almost every combination of clothes that Natalie had the two finally decided on a dress. It was a black halter top dress that was scrunched on the bodice that ended just below the knee, Natalie couldn't even remember why she brought that with from earth but thanked whatever higher being for it being there.

Just as Natalie finished putting the dress on there was a chime at her door and she went over and opened it to reveal Lorne in his best, Natalie gave him a soft smile and pulled him into a hug. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." he responded and looked at the two girls. "You ready?" he asked.

The two girls looked at one and another before nodding in sync, "Yeah lets go. James wouldn't forgive us if we were late to his own funeral." Natalie said with a half laugh and half choke.

Lorne nodded at that and wrapped his arm around Natalie's shoulder, "Come on girls." he said and led the two out of Natalie's room and headed down to the gate room where the funeral was taking place at.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gate Room ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of everyone who knew James was standing in the Gate room, the one place that could hold the most people other then the mess hall. Natalie, Lorne and Emilia were standing at the front since they were friends and the team members of James' and not to mention the closest thing to family that he had.

Carter walked in front of the Stargate where everyone was gathered in front of and started to talk, "Over the years we've lost many people, none of their lives were more important then the other but each life that is lost hurts and it is never easy to say good bye to them. Today we are celebrating the life of James Marlin Gevorgian, born January 23rd 1981, died February 17th 2009. James had a great life, he traveled the world, enjoyed every second of it, he cared deeply for his friends and would do anything for them if they would ask it of him."

"This death should show us just how precious life is, that we should be grateful with what we have because it could be taken away in seconds, before we even realize what is happening. That is why I ask that you all look after yourselves, be happy with what you have and cherish every moment with your friends and loved ones that you can." Carter said looking at them all seriously. "All that we were able to retrieve from James was his dog tags, since he has no family back home on earth we are presenting these to his very good friend Natalie Vance." she said and walked up to Natalie and handed her the dog tags.

Without a word Natalie took the dog tags of her friend from Carter and carefully wrapped them around her wrist to make a bracelet out of them. Trying to control her emotions but failing Natalie shook her hair out so that it was in her face so that no one would be able to see how out of control of her emotions she was, no body needed to see her acting so different from her usual self.

Carter said a few more words about James and then soon enough everyone was starting to leave the Gate Room and go about their day, even if someone died while off world on a mission they still need to keep Atlantis up and running.

"I'm sorry Natalie," someone from one of the other teams said. "And Lorne and Emilia. About what happened to James. Never should of happened." the guy said gruffly.

Lorne nodded at him, "Thanks Markus, means a lot hearing that." he said shaking the man's hand.

Natalie stayed silent, she did it the whole time people came up to them and said sorry to them for Jame's dying. Hearing the same thing over and over again drove Natalie insane, she couldn't take it. None of the people there really knew James as well as she, Lorne and Emilia did and all they were saying was sorry and how much of a great guy he was. Not wanting to hear the same thing over and over again and have the possibility of exploding at them Natalie left, she needed to get some air and be away from crowds of people at the moment.

Once Natalie was outside of Atlantis and standing on her pier she let her guard down and stared out at the water angrily, she knew it was useless to glare at the water but it made her feel better to be angry at something rather then nothing at all.

"You left," a voice said behind her making Natalie jump.

Turning around Natalie gave Ronon a half hearted unamused look before turning back to glaring at the water, "I couldn't take it. Those people, as sincere as they sound none of them mean what they are really saying. Sure to them losing a life is not rainbows and butterfly's but none of them knew James. Didn't know his favorite food, his favorite color, favorite book, his favorite childhood memory, if he had a good childhood or anything like that." she said with her arms crossed and sat down on the pier not looking at him.

"Are you alright?" Ronon asked not used to talking about emotional stuff with people who weren't on his team.

At that Natalie laughed dryly, "Alright. Am I alright. No Ronon I'm not. I don't know what I'm feeling right now. Nothing is right in the world and everything is completely messed up and nothing make's sense." she said her voice getting louder. "It's unfair, he was the closest thing to family that I've had in a long time and now he is taken from me. My best friend, my brother, my confident."

Ronon wanted to say something to comfort Natalie but he knew from personal experience that she needed to get everything out before she would allow that to happen, that she needed to talk and get this out before she could move on.

"He wasn't supposed to die!" Natalie yelled. "I need him, I need his advice, I need to have an older brother, I need him to make fun of me and so that I can kick his ass in sparring. It's not fair!" she screamed and buried her face in her hands and cried.

She cried for James, she cried for herself and she cried for what happened on that planet and what those. Slowly Ronon lowered his massive form down besides Natalie and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, the second he did that Natalie wrapped her arms around Ronon's neck and cried into his chest. Silently and comfortingly as he could Ronon rubbed her back, hoping to calm Natalie down.

Finally after about ten minutes of just crying Natalie got herself under control and scooted away from Ronon and gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry. I don't normally act like that." she said to him softly as she wiped at her eyes with her hand.

"You are in pain," Ronon stated. "you lost a friend who meant a lot to you. You acted the way any other person would have in your situation." he said to her.

Natalie glanced up at him before back out at the water, "I know but I don't like acting like such a girl, acting out of my character. I hate letting people see me cry, it's not me." she said to him.

"Don't." Ronon stated making Natalie look up at him. "Don't regret what you feel or how you act, it shows you care, that he meant enough to you to cry over and act out of character. IF you didn't react like this it would show that he wasn't meaningful to you. That you didn't really care for him." he said to her.

Nodding at him Natalie looked back out at the water and pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on top of those and settled her head down on her arms, the water was something that always calmed her. Be it if she was looking at it or if she was in it swimming around, she loved the water.

"This place reminds me of my home." Natalie said after a few moment of silence.

Looking down at the short woman besides him Ronon brought one knee up and rested his arm on it, "What was it like?" he asked her.

She smiled when he asked, happy that he was trying to make conversation with her. "It's nice, a lot of lakes. Very green during the spring and summer and warm. The rain is the best though, right after it rains it smells clean and fresh, like starting over. It's a nice place."

"You don't like it?" he questioned staring at her.

Natalie shrugged at that, "It's not that really, it's just it doesn't feel like home really. I've never felt like I belonged there, it was more so a place to live. A place that I kept my stuff at until I found a place that felt like home." she answered sadly.

"Have you found it yet?" Ronon asked glancing down at her.

Looking behind her at Atlantis Natalie turned towards Ronon with a half smile, "Yeah, I think I did finally." she said to him sincerely. "This place is home."

For a few moments after Natalie said that the two sat in comfortable silence and looked out at the ocean, enjoying the calmness of it and listening to the water hitting the side of Atlantis and feeling the sun's heat against their skin.

Soon enough Natalie broke the silence, something about Ronon was bothering her and she wanted to ask him about it. "Why are you talking to me?" she asked him bluntly, not even easing into the subject.

"What?" he asked looking at her with a raised brow.

"You," Natalie said gesturing to him. "Why are you talking to me and treating me like a friend. I know you saved my life and everything and I am eternally grateful for that but I thought htat once that was over that you would go back to just talking to Teyla, John and Rodney." she said to him with a half hearted shrug.

Ronon looked at her with an amused smile, "What, I'm bothering you?" he asked.

Immediately Natalie shook her head, "No of course not, I don't mind talking to you. I just you know, was curious why you were doing it is all." she replied.

"Your eyes," Ronon said to her. "You have strength, your soul is a fighter and I find that interesting." he said to her with a smirk and stood up. "I'll be seeing you." he said to her and headed back towards the main part of the city.

All Natalie did was say a quiet bye and continue to stare after him as he walked back to the city, she's always found him interesting, ever since he joined Atlantis but never made the initiative to go out and get to know him. Partly because he was so big and intimidating, he was a foot plus some, taller then her and if that doesn't intimidate someone who knows what will. Then of course he always had a sort of scowl on his face, but then gain Natalie did that too sometimes. For some odd reason that Natalie can't explain Ronon wanted to get to know her, unless she was reading his body language wrong, but she didn't think she was. If he didn't want to talk to her he wouldn't.

A/N: please do review if it is nice or constructed criticism, nothing mean or insulting allowed or i will flame you back.


	11. Apologies and Food

A/N: not mine as always

Chapter eleven

It was a few days after James' funeral and Natalie has kept herself locked up in her room, she didn't want to be around people for a while. Lorne and Emilia came but usually only to bring her food so that she didn't starve and to talk for a bit but once they realized she wasn't responding much they'd leave and go and do who knows what.

Now that Natalie was back on Atlantis she decided that she should look through her video logs, see what her family might have sent her while she was out of commission. Opening her lap top Natalie opened the video log that was close to the date when she was captured by the Abaroian people.

"Hey Nat, it's your sister wondering what's up. We all miss you, hope to see you soon." Natalie's sister, Michi – Michelle, said to her with a smile. "I miss having you here, miss our girls night and drinking nights. I wanna kick your ass at sequence again. Well I guess reply back soon. Me and the girls and mom all miss you. Love you. Bye."

For the next hour or so Natalie watched her video's that her sister sent her and they all followed along the same line as the first, but the more she watched the more worried her families voices got and the more frantic they were and asking her to send them a video so that they knew that she was all right.

Rubbing her face in frustration Natalie turned the camera she had in her room on and started to record a video to sent to Earth, "Hey Michelle, Mom, Asia, Rora. I know I should have sent you a video earlier but I was indispose at the time and there was no modern technology to be able to send you anything to let you know I was alright. I had to help people and as you can see I'm a bit injured." Natalie said as she lifted her broken arm up with a half hearted smile. "I lost a friend on that mission, so I haven't been in the best moods to do anything but I'm trying to heal so here I am sending you all a message."

"I'm doing okay," Natalie said after pausing for a moment. "I'm healing from my injuries and I will be back to new soon enough. Rora, Asia I hope you're giving your parents trouble for me since I'm not their to help annoy her. Ma I'm sorry I haven't been home in years, I'm coming back this year, I promise. And Michi, I know you're my older sister but don't worry about me, you and mom both worry about me too much. Love you guys, I'll be in contact." she said as she stopped recording and turned the video camera off.

Once Natalie was sure that the video she made for her family was sent she decided to be brave and go and venture out of her room and go and eat in the mess hall for once instead of wait for Emilia and Lorne to come and bring her something. She had to get over James' death and being stuck in her room for the rest of her healing process was not going to do that, if anything it was going to slow it down.

"Vance! Hey Vance, wait up!" someone behind Natalie said.

Turning around Natalie saw that the person yelling for her was Rodney McKay, she really didn't want to talk to him right now especially after the comment he made about her getting her friends killed back on that planet.

"Hey McKay," Natalie said not even faking nice, she was going to show him how angry she was at him for what he said.

Seeing the expression on her face Rodney slowed down and carefully approached her, "Hey can I talk to you?" he asked her with a small smile.

Sighing Natalie nodded, "I guess. Come on, lets walk and talk. I'm hungry." she said as she continued on her way to the mess hall.

"I'm sorry," McKay blurted out to her.

"You should be," Natalie said not even turning to look at him as she got on a transporter to take her down to the level the mess hall was at.

McKay sighed in frustration, he knew from the beginning that this wasn't going to be easy but Natalie is almost more stubborn then Ronon. "I shouldn't have said that comment about James, I didn't think. Ask anyone I don't think before I talk usually. I'm an ass a lot." he said with a forced laugh but he didn't get a reaction out of Natalie. "I know James meant a lot to you and still does, he was family to you and I was-"

He was cut off by Natalie, "You were an insensitive jerk." she finished for him as they got out of the transporter.

"Yes," McKay said with a put out expression. "I was that, and I am sorry for that and for what I said about James. I never should have said or even thought something like that."

Natalie stopped in the middle of the hallway and flat out stared at McKay, not sure what was going on with him. "Who are you and what have you done with McKay. You are acting strangely out of character." she said stepping away from him and looking at him with a raised brow.

He huffed at that, "I do know when I am in the wrong once in a while." he said to her as they entered the mess hall.

"Okay," Natalie said as the two of them headed towards the food table.

Natalie was having a few issues putting food on her tray and holding it at the same time and Rodney seeing her issue sighed heavily and decided to take pity on her and grabbed her tray and held it for her while she put food on it.

"Thanks," Natalie said as she took her tray from him. "Guess I'll see ya around."

"Yeah, bye." he said as he went to go and sit over by Zelenka and Natalie went to go and sit by Emilia and Lorne.

When Emilia and Lorne saw Natalie they couldn't help but grin, they were glad that their friend and teammate was finally getting out of her room and starting to join the everyday activities of Atlantis.

"Nat, I see you've joined the land of the living finally." Lorne said with a smile as Natalie sat down at the table with them.

Natalie rolled her eyes and started to eat her pudding cup first, "Well as much as I like being alone sometimes I was starting to feel a but isolated so I decided to grace you all with my presence."

When Emilia heard that she snorted in amusement, "So humble aren't you?" she asked her sarcastically.

"Can't help it some days." Natalie told her as she looked down at her tray of food. "You know I know this stuff is pretty good but I would kill for a slice of pizza or some taco Bell right now. I want my spicy food." she said with a small whine.

Emilia looked at her unsympathetically, "Go back to earth for a visit." she said to her with a shrug.

"I am," Natalie said shocking the two into silence.

Lorne looked at her, "You're going back to Earth? You said you'd only go back if you had absolutely had to."

Natalie nodded at that, "And I do. My sister is getting married." she explained simply. "And seeing as I'm in the wedding I have to go back to Earth and do all of the sisterly things."

While the three were talking during lunch and catching up, none of them noticed a tall hulking figure sitting in the opposite corner watching them. Ronon couldn't help but watch Natalie, he's seen her around Atlantis before and ran into her in the weapons bay a few times but they've never had a conversation before. He always thought she was just some girl that was helping around the place or that she was a scientist, but now he knew that she wasn't just some random girl. Natalie was strong, fierce and a fighter. And Ronon couldn't help but want to know more about her.


	12. Girls Day

Disclaimer: Still don't own Stargate Atlantis or Ronon sadly

Chapter twelve

Over the next month in a half or so Natalie followed the doctors orders and didn't do anything too strenuous or that would halt her healing process. Since Natalie didn't have anything else to do while she was off duty she helped Keller and Carson in the infirmary, learning a few necessary first aide stuff and other things. While she was on the mend her and Ronon continued to have their conversations, getting to know each other better and growing closer as friends or at least that's what Natalie likes to think.

"Natalie! Wake up!" a loud voice yelled waking Natalie up from the nap that she was having.

Groaning Natalie rolled out of bed and walked over to her door and waved her hand over the sensor and revealed the people who woke her up from her nap, no surprise it was Emilia and Teyla the lastly holding a basket but the both of them had smiles on their faces.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked with an amused smile at how hyper Emilia looked.

Emilia grinned at her, "Come on you've been cooped up in here for way too long. You are coming with me and Teyla." she said practically bouncing on her feet and dragged Natalie out of her room without another word.

"Hey!" Natalie objected pulling her arm out of Emilia's grasp. "I don't even know what we're doing or where we're going." she said but followed Emilia and Teyla to wherever they had decided that Natalie needed to go.

It was Teyla who answered, "Myself and Emilia have decided that we need to have a girls day as she called it, and we are going to have a picnic on the pier." she said to her with a small smile.

When Natalie heard that she couldn't help but grin and go faster so that hey could get to the pier and have their girls day. It's been a long time since Natalie and the girls have had a day away from the guys or even a few hours away from them, the last time they had a day like that was a while before the whole being held hostage on Abaroia thing happened.

"A picnic sounds perfect." Natalie said with a grin.

Soon enough the three girls were out on the pier eating their lunch, talking, giggling, gossiping and acting very much like little kids again. A thing that no one on Atlantis gets the pleasure of doing very often, being in another galaxy with the threat of a wraith attack or some other threat hovering over the all of the time is something that doesn't leave their minds easily and give them time to forget and act like normal people once in a while. They do what they can to have fun under the circumstances but they always remember that at any moment an emergency or a threat could come up.

"So Nat," Emilia sing songed to her friend as she and Teyla started to braid her hair. "How are things with the caveman going? Give us the juicy gossip. Have you kissed him yet?"

Natalie rolled her eyes at her friend being so nosy, "Emilia there is nothing going on with me and Ronon. We're just friends. I've only known him for like a month, what makes you think that I would've kissed him yet?" she asked.

At that Emilia smirked, "So you don't deny liking him then and thinking about kissing him?" she asked with a waggle of her eye brows.

"I didn't say that." Natalie said and crossed her arms.

"My friend," Teyla said to her. "We can see that you are fond of Ronon and find him appealing do you not?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

Natalie opened and closed her mouth a few times before she was able to respond, "He is good looking I admit and he's an easy person to talk to." she said not full out agreeing or disagreeing with what her friends said.

Emilia smirked at Teyla, "Which means that she likes him of course and just doesn't want to admit it." she staged whispered.

In retaliation for that comment Natalie pinched her friend hard, "You're lucky that they haven't given me my weapons yet or else you would so have a hole going through you're middle."

"So violent all the time," Emilia said shaking her head at Natalie. "its no wonder why you and Ronon find each other attractive." she said to her.

"He's not attracted to me." Natalie said not wanting to get her hopes up about another guy that she likes.

Teyla paused in braiding Natalie's hair and looked her in the eyes, "Believe me when I say that Ronon is very much attracted to you, I have known him for quite some time now and I can tell you that he acts differently around you then around anyone else." she told her honestly. "And I can tell that you like him Natalie." she said giving her a knowing smile.

"So come on tell us what you like about Ronon and what you find attractive about him and what your favorite body part is on him." Emilia said and giggled like a little girl.

Natalie snorted at that, "God how old are you Emilia Tizianna Mercede DeLuca? Five?" she asked rhetorically.

Emilia laughed at that, "No but I'm younger then you, which makes you an old foggie." she said to her with a teasing smile.

In response to that Natalie just growled at her friend but eventually she did give in and talked about what she liked about Ronon, how she liked how he held himself, how she liked his beard, his dreadlocks, his tattoo's, his green eyes, his muscles. Basically everything and anything that she could think that she liked about him she told them about it, but she made them promise to not speak a work of what she told them to Ronon himself or any living soul.

As fun as it was to spend a few hours with just the girls Natalie did have to get her wounds looked at, so once Emilia and Teyla had finished braiding all of her hair which took quite a while since it was halfway down her back, Natalie said bye to her friends and headed for the infirmary.

Walking into the infirmary Natalie didn't see Keller anywhere but she saw Carson at a desk looking through a microscope, so she headed over to him. "hey Carson." Natalie said making him look up from what he was doing.

"'Ello lass how are you doing today?" he asked looking at her with a smile. "And might I say I like the new hair."

Natalie grinned when he said that, "thanks Emilia and Teyla did it for me." she said as she pushed a few braided strands out of her face. "Keller told me to come in today and get my wounds checked out."

"Oh yes she told me 'bout that, I'm sorry but she isn't 'ere. She's off world at the moment but I will be more then happy to look over your wounds for ye if it isn't a problem?" he asked looking at her.

"I don't mind Carson, I trust you." she said to him and hopped up on a bed that was closest to her.

He walked over to her and motioned for her to lay down which she obediently did so and watched as Carson looked over her wounds, pushing against her ribs to be sure they healed up, checking the stab wounds that she acquired from being too feisty and fighting back against Altozia.

Carson looked at Natalie, "Well it seems that your ribs are all healed up, the stab wound in your belly is nearly all healed up and the one in your arm barely even has a scar." he said to her with a supportive smile. "How is movement in your arms? Tense, stiff anything like that?" he asked her.

"Not really, other then having to have a cast on my dominant hand that is." Natalie said as she tested out moving her arm a few times and rolling her shoulders backwards to see how movement was. "They feel fine. No pain, nothing like that at all."

"That's good," Carson said and had her do a few moment tests before he was satisfied that they really were in working order.

Natalie looked at Carson hopefully, "So does this mean I can actually do some physical work instead of just being able to walk around in the halls now. Like maybe going to the gym to spar for a bit?" she asked him with a puppy dog look.

"Don't go giving me that look lass," Carson admonished. "I am going to say yes but, try not to get too carried away. If I see you in here from being hurt while sparring I will but you under house arrest or make you stay in here until your wounds are all healed up. Do you understand me?" he asked her with a pointed look.

At that statement Natalie gave Carson a hurt look, "I would never do something like that, how dare you insinuate something like that." she said to him with a smirk while trying to act all innocent.

"Now Natalie I'm being serious here." Carson said about to give her a speech on why it wouldn't be a good idea. "I will strap you to the bed and make sure you stay there until you are healed."

Natalie sighed heavily and waved his concern off, "Don't worry Carson I won't do anything that will put me healing up back and make me stay off active duty even longer then I have to okay. Don't worry I'll be a good girl and take it easy." she said to him with a smile.

He looked at her doubtfully but nodded, "Alright lass but if I hear you over exerted your self I am not against putting you on bed rest to be sure that you stay on the track you are on." he told her seriously.

"I know, thanks doc. See ya later." she said to him and waved bye as she left the infirmary and to go and look for Emilia and Teyla again so that they could continue on having their girls day.

A/N: I do liek reviews so please try to leave some when you are done reading it is appreciated morethen you think.

Also i'd like to say thanks to my two awesome reviewers Forestreject and Vampirenav.


	13. Check up and Nurse Natalie

Disclaimer: as always don't own, wish i owned the big honking hottness of Ronon but no i don't so i have ot write about it sadly.

A/N: I would like to thank my reviewers who are totally amazing, love you guys.

OceanSapphire

Vampirenav

Dixie11

Forestreject

And now, on wiht the story

Chapter thirteen

The next morning Natalie woke up from a really weird and twisted dream, Ronon and Teyla and James were in it. There were flying sharks, Ninja's trying to cut people's heads off the whole time and floating escalators. Basically Natalie was running and fighting throughout the whole dream, except for the few times that Ronon, James and Teyla appeared in front of her to tell her something but for the life of her she couldn't remember what they had told her.

Taking a deep breath Natalie got out of bed and went into her bathroom to take a quick shower and then she threw on whatever was closest for clothes and headed down to the Stargate room so that she could see Emilia and Lorne off – they were going off world. 

"Natalie!" Lorne said with a smile and pulling her into a gentle hug in welcome. "didn't think you were going to get up in time. We knocked on your door but you were dead to the world." he said to her with a shrug.

That made Natalie laugh, "Yeah. Sorry. I was having a pretty weird dream." she answered as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"What about?" Emilia asked curiously.

Natalie shook her head, "Half the time I wasn't even sure what it was about, it was that weird and twisted." she said to her.

Both Lorne and Emilia looked at Natalie, "If you wanna talk about anything, you know we're here. Right?" Lorne said looking at Natalie.

"Yeah I know, don't worry." Natalie said with a smile. "But you do need to worry about yourselves okay. If I find out you got yourselves captured and need me to come in and save your asses. You guys are gonna get your asses kicked and you won't like how imaginative I can be. If I have to I'll even get Ronon to help me." she said to them half serious.

Both Emilia and Lorne looked at each other and then at Natalie and smirked, "Look Emilia they'd be doing something to us as a couple. Isn't that sweet of them." he said and looked back at Natalie and tried to stop laughing but couldn't.

"I bet the two of them would get off doing that and then they'd end up fucking." Emilia said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Natalie raised a brow at her friend and then before Emilia realized what was happening she was hit up side the head by Natalie, and Natalie can hit hard so it definitely hurt. "Owie! God Natalie what was that for?" she asked.

It was Natalie's turn to smirk, "for being a pervert." she said to her with a shrug.

"We'll come back Natalie," Lorne said seriously once he and Emilia controlled their amusement. "We'll be safe." he said to her.

Glancing at Emilia, Natalie looked at Lorne. "take care of her while you're out there you here. You know how she doesn't pay attention to anything most of the time when she looks down at her computer. Can't go and have her fall and break something because she's blind." she said to him.

Emilia protested but both ignored her, "I'll watch over her, she wont get herself injured if I can help it." he stated.

Smiling at them Natalie threw herself at them and pulled both into a tight hug, "Be safe." she said to them and let go.

"We will mother," Emilia mocked. "Now stop acting so out of character and go and do something more interesting then waiting for us to go off world. I'm sure Carson wouldn't mind if you went and helped him in the infirmary." she said to her.

Natalie laughed, "Okay, I'll leave you alone you annoying little brats." she said to them jokingly and waved one last time before leaving the Gate Room.

The first mission they went on without Natalie she nearly freaked out and had an anxiety attack. Thankfully though Teyla and Ronon were with when that happened and calmed her down before she had a mental break down and made it so she couldn't breathe anymore, that would not have been a good thing.

Once up in the infirmary Carson immediately put Natalie to work, since some of the medical team was off world with Keller helping some kids in one of the villages that they trade with they were a bit short staffed and needed some help. So Natalie went to work in organizing some of the paper work, medicine cabinets and helping patients which Natalie was doing wonderful at. She was a fast learner and picked things up with only a few tries so she was one of the better people to have volunteer their help in the infirmary.

"Okay people listen up," Carson suddenly yelled out the the few people that were in the infirmary. "We got Colonel Sheppard's team coming in with a few injured so get ready." he said and then turned to look at Natalie going to need your help, not everyone can stop what they are doing to help John and the others."

Natalie nodded in understanding, "I'll do whatever you need me to, just tell me what has to be done and it will be done." she told to him with a determined look on her face.

Carson gave her a small smile and patted her on the back, "Thank you lass, I will tell you what needs to be done when they all get up here." he said and just as he finished that sentence John, Teyla, Rodney and Ronon came in – Rodney and Teyla on gurney's.

Rodney was whining like a baby from his gurney saying he was going to lose his arm and die a slow and painful death because he got an infection, Teyla on the other hand was just wincing slightly – apparently she was able to convince Carson and the others to let her go on the mission that morning with the guys.

"Alright lets get to work people," Carson said. "Jamison look over John, Madison take care of Teyla. Alice you're with me and Rodney." he said and then glanced over at Natalie. "You take a look at Ronon." he said and then headed over to Rodney.

Natalie gave Carson's turned back a look, she knew that he did that on purpose. He was teasing her earlier about the 'thing' her and Ronon had going on; shaking her head Natalie pushed the small medical cart over to the bed that Ronon was on so that she could see what the damage was and do what she could for him.

Before Natalie even had a chance to do or say anything to Ronon he glanced up at her with a hard look, "I don't need anything." he said to her gruffly.

"Really?" Natalie asked with a raised brow and an unconvinced voice. "because your bleeding arm is saying different."

Ronon looked at her, "I've been through worse, go help Rodney." he said and acted as if he dismissed her.

At that Natalie clicked her tongue at him and he looked at her, "Don't order me around Ronon, I don't take well to as you know from when you rescued me from that planet." she said to him with a pointed look. "But whether or not you need it you are going to let me look at your wounds. We all know that Rodney is just a big baby and is overreacting like he usually does. So let me take a look at your arm and then you can be on your way."

"No," Ronon said stubbornly. "I'm fine, like I said."

"I don't care if you think or if you say you're fine." Natalie said and crossed her arms, or tried to – kinda hard to do when one was in a cast. "You Ronon Dex, are going to let me, Natalie Vance, look at your damn arm." she said and cracked her neck and raised a brow at him.

He growled at her when she said that, "No."

At that Natalie glared at him, "Don't you go growling at me like that mister, you aren't the only one who can do the whole threatening growling thing." she said to him with her hands on her hips and growled right back at him but he growled once again and Natalie knew that with that evil look in his eyes that he did that on purpose.

Narrowing her eyes at him Natalie strode forward and grabbed the arm that had been shot and dug her fingers into the bullet wounds and smiled happily when she saw Ronon wince in pain, most days Natalie doesn't like to cause people pain but with stubborn asses like Ronon it was fun once in a while.

"Now listen here Ronon, "Natalie said harshly. "You are going to listen to me and let me do what Carson told me to do and look at your wounds and take the bullets out okay. And if you don't let me Ill just keep on digging my fingers deeper and deeper into your arm until you do let me. I don't want to make you angry but you aren't giving me much of a choice here. So Don't piss me off, let me take a look at you and we'll both be happy." she said using her fake cheery voice for the last part.

Ronon just grunted so Natalie took that as an okay to take a look at his arm and fix him up, not giving him the chance to change his mind Natalie immediately started to clean the area up and then started to slowly and carefully take the two bullets out of his arm. Once they were out she cleaned the wound and began to stitch the small wound up, once she had securely stitched both wounds and made sure there were no other injuries that needed to be taken care of Natalie put a small bandage over the bullet holes.

"See that wasn't so hard to do was it?" Natalie asked him rhetorically. "Next time you should actually listen to me so I wont have to injure you further." she said to him with an amused smile.

Ronon smirked at her when she said that, "You wouldn't be able to injure me." he said to her in amusement.

"Yeah no one here in Atlantis has been able to so far," John said hopping off the bed he was sitting on while he was getting looked over by the medical staff.

Natalie looked at John with a smirk, "Maybe most of the men here on Atlantis who try to fight him are just weaklings." she said to him with a joking smile.

That got a laugh out of Ronon, and John just gave Natalie a dark look for that. "Now that Natalie, was just plain mean. Really." he said to her shaking his head.

Smirking Natalie shrugged, "But it was funny." she said to him with a grin.

Teyla looked over at Natalie from the bed that she was sitting in, "Natalie believe me I have seen many people spar against Ronon but none have come close to beating him nor being his equal in fighting." she said to her with an amused smile.

At that Natalie smiled and looked at Ronon, "Hey Ronon, maybe when I get all healed up me and you can go against each other." she said with with a hopeful look.

He laughed, "You wont make it out unharmed." Ronon told her with his deep voice.

"Nothing I haven't been through before," Natalie said to him and looked at Teyla. "Speaking of sparing, you willing to spar sometime in the near future?" she asked.

Teyla looked at her, "I thought you were not able to spar until you were all healed up?" she said and looked at her curiously. "Will you be able to spar with a broken arm?"

Natalie gave her an amused look, "Well the doc said I can't spar as often or as vigorously as I used to nor can I spar against someone like Ronon or even Lorne but you're my size and I've missed sparring against you." she said and gave her the puppy dog face and giving her the biggest pout that she could muster.

"I would more then love to spar with you Natalie," Teyla said giving a small laugh. "It has been much too long since we have sparred my friend. Would tomorrow work for you to spar?" she asked curiously.

Hearing her friends response Natalie grinned, "Great, god you have no idea how much I've been itching to go down to the Gym but so far I've been banned and stopped before I've stepped a foot into that place." she said with a roll of her eyes and glanced over where Rodney was being worked on by Carson, the first of whom was complaining every other seconds.

"Be happy they are letting you spar at all with a broken arm," Ronon said to her. "They could make you wait until you are fully healed before they let you do anything at all."

At that Natalie grimaced, "That would suck majorly." she replied with a unamused face and pushed her braids out of her face.

After almost twenty minutes of waiting Rodney was finally released and then the five of them left the infirmary and decided to head down to the mess hall to get some food; Sheppard and his team didn't get much food to eat while on the mission and Natalie hasn't eaten yet that day she's been distracted by helping in the infirmary.

"See ya Carson," Natalie said as she waved at the Scottish doctor, he gave her a smile and waved back before looking at the computer once again.

"Okay question," McKay said looking at Natalie, breaking the silence as they all walked towards the mess hall.

Natalie looked at him carefully, "Yes, what is it?" she asked.

He gestured to her outfit, "Why is it that even though you are from Earth that you get to wear whatever it is that you want to and don't have to wear the Atlantis uniform like the rest of us." he said looking a bit put out that she could wear civilian clothing.

"I don't have to," Ronon said.

McKay sighed at that, "Yeah but you're you, not to mention you're not from Earth." he said and looked at Natalie expectantly.

That made Natalie shake her head at Rodney but she answered him nonetheless, "Well Rodney, can you manipulate, create and fix almost any gun and or weapon that you get your hands on? Can you alter a normal to make into something different or to work better?" she asked him with a raised brow, when he shook his head Natalie smirked. "And thus, that is the reason why I, Natalie Vance, am one of the best Weapon Specialists in North America and parts of Europe. So because of that Stargate Command really doesn't want to piss me off so I get to wear whatever the hell I want to."

"Oh, okay." McKay said to her and then turned away from her.

Natalie laughed and looked to Ronon, "I think I scared him off." she said in a stage whisper which resulted in him looking at her in amusement.

Hearing that comment McKay turned to look at her, "You did not scare me off thank you very much, if you want to know you answered my question and now I don't see why I should ask you anything else that pertains to the subject." he said to her and crossed his arms acting very much like a child and stalked over to the table with the food on it.

"Seriously does he always act like a high school girl?" Natalie asked as she grabbed a tray and started to load food onto it.

"We usually try to ignore him when he starts acting like that," John said with a half smile as he and the others sat at a table that was away from Rodney and Zelenka were sitting at.

With that the three sat down and Natalie began to hear about the mission that that went on, how things didn't exactly go as planned and how Rodney had 'saved' the day according to him and was injured while saving everyone. Natalie just smiled and listened to what they had to say about the mission and the people on the planet that they had saved from the Wraith and in doing that saved the plant that could be of medicinal purpose.

A/N: Hope you guys liked the chapter, i promise it's gonna get more interesting now. I already have maore then half the story written up but i didnt like how everything flowed so i am rewriting the whole thing and let me tell you this story is around 270 pages so it's gonna take a bit so please bare with me.


	14. Kicking Ass

Disclaimer: As always don't own, I wish.

A/N: I got a surprsie for you guys. I got pictures posted on my account on Polyvore of Ronon and Natalie if you want to take a looky at them.

Natalie & Ronon: .com/ronon_dex_natalie_vance/set?id=21829476

Natalie & her weapons: .com/worlds_away_natalies_weapons/set?id=21852395

Natalie & her team: .com/team/set?id=22536719

Natalie's everyday clothes: .com/worlds_away_nats_everyday_outfit/set?id=22398326

**Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something." **

**Frederick Smith **

Chapter fourteen

Waking up in the middle of the night from another nightmare Natalie decided to walk around Atlantis and forget about her dream and maybe tire herself out a bit so that she would be able to get back to bed, she ended up stopping at one of the balconies that over looked the city – all the lights that were on in various parts of the city making it look that much more beautiful.

"Teyla," Natalie said in surprise when she saw her friend leaning on the balcony. "What are you doing up?" she asked curiously as she leaned against the same railing.

Teyla gave her a small smile, "I could not sleep, it seems that sleep is eluding me this night." she told her and then gave her a look. "What is it that you are doing up at such an hour as this?"

Natalie gave her a wryly smile at that, "Nightmare, it's been a while since I had one and now out of the blue I get one again. I was hoping that they were going to stay away once and for all." Natalie told her with a sigh.

Do you wish to talk about it?" Teyla asked looking at her in concern, not wanting Natalie to have to suffer alone and keep it all bottled inside, having to deal with pain alone is never a good idea.

"No," Natalie said shaking her head. "Thanks though Teyla, but I'm fine it's the same as all the other times I had the nightmares." she old her and looked away from Teyla's intense gaze and out at the water instead.

"You do know that if you ever need to talk that we are all here for you," Teyla said to her friend. "Myself, John, Emilia, Lorne, even McKay will listen," she said making both of them laugh a bit at that. "And of course Ronon." she said and smirked when she saw the slight blush on Natalie's face. "Speaking of that, how are you and Ronon going?"

Natalie groaned loudly at that and banged her head on the railing, "Nothing is going on between me and Ronon Teyla. Ab-so-lute-ly nothing. Why can't you guys get that through your heads?" she asked rhetorically. "I mean I didn't know you guys were that desperate for sex or whatever that you have the urge to mess in my nonexistent love life."

"Natalie!" Teyla said appalled and amused at the same time.

"What?" Natalie asked with a shrug of her shoulders. "That's what it feels like you're doing." she replied honestly, one thing that can be said about Natalie is that she is genuinely honest, she wont lie to make you feel better she'll tell it like it is no exception.

"I am not messing in your love life," Teyla said to her. "I was just innocently wondering how things between you and Ronon were going." she told her.

Natalie nodded and gave her an unconvinced look, "Yeah... Okay. Um I'm gonna go now and try to sleep I guess. It was...interesting talking to you Teyla. See you tomorrow I guess." she said to her friend and quickly made her way off of the balcony before Teyla could say any other comments about her and Ronon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next Day: Gym~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Natalie are you sure about this, I do not feel comfortable fighting you." as she handed her a fighting staff. "I do not want to injure you any more then you already are."

Hearing that Natalie sighed heavily and gave Teyla a look, "Believe me Teyla I can take fighting you, I'm healed up enough, doctor said so." she said to her with a playful grin. "Even so, if anyone gets in trouble for injuring me further then I already am it would be me. Beckett threatened old century style torture if I hurt myself any more then necessary."

Teyla glanced at Natalie warily, "Natalie I do not believe that this is such a good idea."

"Come on Teyla I'll be fine," Natalie said as she made her way into the middle of the room. "If you don't fight me I'll just intentionally argue with people and piss them off until one of them fight with me." she told her as a matter of a factly.

Teyla sighed at that and knew that Natalie would do what she said, Natalie has always carried out on her threats and stayed true to what she said no matter what. And it would just make things a whole lot easier for everyone all around if Teyla would just agree to sparring with Natalie rather then arguing about whether or not it would be safe for her friend.

"Are you certain that you want to do this?" Teyla asked in concern.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Yes Teyla I am certain." she told her with a half smirk waiting for her to join her in the middle of the floor so that they could spar and Natalie could get back into the routine of fighting regularly again – she's been itching to fight since the day after she and her team came back to Atlantis.

With that said Natalie grasped the fighting staff in her unbroken hand, her right hand and waited for Teyla to do the same, once Teyla had the staff in her hand the two girls began to circle one and another, waiting for the other to make a move and attack but neither did. After a few moment of circling one and another Natalie couldn't stand it any longer and she lunged at Teyla and swung her staff haphazardly at her but Teyla easily blocked the attack and swung her own staff towards Natalie's right side but Natalie easily blocked that. Natalie brought her staff towards Teyla's head in an upwards motion but Teyla ducked and swung her staff at Natalie once again but she swung hers hard against it making both the staff's hit Teyla's side hard.

Teyla winced a bit and backed away from Natalie, the two stared at each other for a few moments deciding what their next plan of action should be and to see who would start up the sparring match again. The fight won't be one of the best that the two have had before seeing as Natalie had a broken arm but all things considered it would be a good fight nonetheless.

Smirking at Teyla, Natalie jumped at her once again only this time she aimed for Teyla's legs but Teyla jumped out of the way before Natalie's staff reached their target. Narrowing her eyes Natalie went after Teyla again before she could ready herself and and swung her staff towards Teyla's back but she ducked and jumped to the other side of Natalie and swung her own staff at Natalie and hit her in the lower back only much lighter then she would have if Natalie was a hundred percent healthy.

"Oww," Natalie hissed in pain but never took her eyes off of Teyla. "C'mon Teyla I'm injured here." she complained and rubbed her back.

Teyla smirked at her, "You said that you wanted to spar, I did not know that you wanted me to treat you like a child." she taunted. "Should we stop?"

At that Natalie growled, "Funny Teyla, real funny." she said to her with a half hearted glare.

"Do you want to Natalie?" Teyla asked looking at her friend seriously.

Natalie shook her head, "And let Ronon and John make fun of me, hell no woman." she said and took up her stance once again. "Alright lets get back to you kicking my ass." she said with a joking smile.

At that Teyla laughed but did as Natalie said, she didn't even give her friend time to react she attacked Natalie swinging her fighting staff at her friend's side but Natalie quickly crouched down and then rolled out of the way of it when Teyla swung it down towards her again. Looking at Teyla Natalie smirked and swung her own staff at Teyla up towards her upper arms to try and make her loose balance and fall but Teyla just stumbled a bit and regained her balance, growling in annoyance Natalie threw her staff at Teyla which threw her off guard and made her grab it. Once Teyla was distracted Natalie threw herself at Teyla and the two fell down onto the mats, Natalie looked over at Teyla who was laying besides her on the mat and smirked.

"So we'll call it a draw?" she asked with a hint of smugness in her voice seeing as she surprised Teyla and made her loose hold of the staff something that barely ever happened to Teyla.

Teyla looked over at Natalie and gave her a half amused smile, "For now it is my friend, but soon when you are out of your cast we will have a true sparring session." she told her as she sat up. "And then we will see who wins."

Natalie shook her head and stood up, "Yeah but we're always evenly matched and we both win the same amount of fights against one and another. It's not fair to fight one and another anymore, we know our fighting styles too well." she said as Teyla stood up and took a drink of water.

"Well if you feel that way I'm sure once you're healed up that you can convince Ronon to spar against you. I doubt either one of you would complain of that too much." she said with a smirk.

"Ugh," Natalie groaned when she heard the comment. "What is with everyone and these Ronon comments Hmm?" she asked looking at her friend accusingly. "It's like you're waiting for us to jump each other and rip each others clothes off each other and go at it like rabid bunnies. Is it so hard to believe that we are just friends?" she asked not waiting for a response. "I mean shit fire motherfucking hell, it's like being in college again, no worse High school. Drama, drama, drama."

Teyla held her hands up in a peaceable way, "I mean nothing bad by it Natalie, I only mean that you two act around each other and how close the two of you have become." she said to her.

At that Natalie glanced sharply at Teyla, "what do you mean?" she asked curiously. "What way do we look at each other? We don't look at each other in a certain way. I look at him like I do all of the guys right?" she asked barely stopping to breathe.

Teyla had to bit her lip to keep from laughing at the obviousness of Natalie's attraction and like towards Ronon, there was no doubting it that Natalie definitely had a thing for Ronon. "If you do not see or realize what I am talking about then I am not going to tell you until you see it for yourself."

"Teyla!" Natalie whined. "You can't just leave me hanging like that, I mean come on. That's just plain cruel and evil. I mean not even a wraith is that evil and cruel." she said trying to convince her friend to tell her what she meant by that but Teyla kept on walking and making her way out of the gym. "Seriously Teyla, come on." she whined again.

Teyla suddenly stopped and turned to look at Natalie with a serious expression on her face, "I know you know what I am talking about Natalie, you just don't want to speak of it out loud because you are afraid for some odd reason." she said and started to walk off once again leaving Natalie standing in the gym thinking over everything that was said.

Natalie knew what Teyla was hinting at, Natalie liked Ronon, she really liked him but she was too chicken to make the first move – or maybe she was more of an old fashion kinda girl and wanted the guy to make the first move but more likely then not, she was too scared to be the bold girl and tell him that she liked him. She was too afraid that it would get blown up in her face, thinking that he would laugh and look at her like she was a complete idiot or that if she told him that she would ruin the friendship that they've built up so far and she didn't want that. Natalie liked hanging out with Ronon too much to let that happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corridor somewhere in Atlantis ~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing as Natalie had nothing better to do she decided to go and sneak her way into the Weapon's Bay, she really wasn't supposed to go down there under any circumstances seeing as all the doctors knew she wanted to test out her weapon again but Natalie was getting antsy and couldn't stand staying away any longer. Besides what the doctors didn't know wouldn't kill them necessarily. Besides it's been nearly two months since her accident and she feels almost all the way up to par, she can take working with her weapons again and anyways she's going to do it whether or not Keller and Carson allow it.

Stealthily as she could Natalie began to make her way to the weapon's bay, watching out for anyone that may tell the doctors what she was doing or where she was going – all the guys that worked in the weapons bay wouldn't tell them that she was down there. They all knew how she got to be when she was forced to rest, sure Natalie liked to take a break once in a while but a month in a half of doing nothing is really pushing her patience.

"What are you doing?"

The second Natalie heard a very familiar and very deep voice speak she screeched and nearly jumped a foot in the air, she wasn't expecting anyone to come up behind her let alone be in the corridors. "What are you doing here Ronon?" she asked him in a whispering tone.

He looked at her in amusement and crossed his arms over his chest, "What am I doing here? What are you doing? You're the one lurking around acting as if they're on the hunt for wraith." he said to her matter of a factly.

"That's besides the point," Natalie said with a wave of her hand. "Now stop talking someone might hear you and I am not in the mood to argue or fight with anyone." she told him seriously.

He laughed, "You're the one talking." he told her.

At that Natalie gave him an unamused look and continued to sneak towards the weapon's bay, with Ronon following behind her not in the least attempting to stay hidden from sight so that others wont be able to see him. Looking behind her at Ronon, Natalie glared. "Can you at least try to not be so obvious." she whispered and looked around the corner.

Ronon smiled at her amused but did as she said and made him form as least noticeable as he possibly could, which was hard considering that he was six foot five and well built but he did so and followed Natalie.

Once she was sure that there was no one in the hallway, Natalie moved away from the corner she had been behind and quickly made her way to the weapons bay door and moved her hand over the sensor opening the door and walked inside.

"this is where you were trying to get to so stealthily?" Ronon asked amused that she reacted in such a way to get to the Weapons Bay.

Natalie turned to him with her hands on her hips and glared, "Yes I did, I'm sick and tired of being told that I can't play with my gun anymore." she said to him. "You got a problem with that?"

He shook his head, "No, just find it kind of funny." Ronon told her with a smile.

At that Natalie shook her head and breathed in the air and smiled happily, grateful that she wasn't caught by anyone that would force her away from her happy place – or at least as she called it. And as a plus it was completely deserted so she could do whatever she wanted and not be disturbed, unless Ronon decided to ruin her fun but that was extremely doubtful. Though him just being there might distract her, him and the smexy beast that he was. She was a woman after all and she admired a hot man when she saw one and Ronon, all the way Smexy, no denying that.

A/N: I know i havent updated in forever and that there wasn't much Ronon in this but i'm trying ot build the relationship up and make it beleiveable i hate the ones that just immediately jump into the relationships it drives me insane. Next chapter will definitely have more ronon in it, I PROMISE!

A/N: For every review i get I'll give you awesome people a sneak preview of the next chapter.

A/N: Thank you to those of you who have reviewed and alerted my story love you all.

Thanks:

Angelle Darque

OceanSapphire

Vampirenav

ForestReject


	15. Conversations on Family REDONE

Disclaimer: I don't own sadly as much as i want to, but hey life's not fair.

Summary: One of the Atlantis teams get kidnapped while on another planet and it is up to Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Rodney to save them from the trouble that they've gotten themselves into. Ronon ended up saving one of the girls that were on the kidnapped team and the two start to develop an attraction towards one and another and maybe into more. While they are getting used to being in a relationship with one and another after not being in one in so many years, things happen and tradgedy strikes. How will they overcome the obstacles in the path of their love? Ronon/OC

A/N: Hope you like it, i know i said i would give people a sneak peak but i jsut want to get this out right now, next chapter i promise there will be a sneak peak.

"I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth."

Janeane Garofalo

Chapter fifteen

"What exactly are you doing?" Ronon asked as he looked over Natalie's shoulder to see what she was messing with, knowing her it was something that she wasn't supposed to be doing yet.

Natalie didn't say anything for a few moments, she just concentrated on the gun that she had in her hands and tweaking some of the inner workings of it but finally she answered Ronon's question. "I'm trying to modify this gun to shoot three power bursts at a time, kind of like your gun only smaller and more fit for well people who aren't ginormous like you you big oaf," she told him with a smirk. "Got inspiration for this when you first got here and saw you use your gun in the range; sadly though since my accident I haven't been allowed down here to work on it." she stated and looked back down at her gun.

"Are you supposed to be working on it now?" he asked her with a raised brow already knowing the answer from the smirk that was starting to form on her face.

Natalie turned her smirk covered face towards him, "Of course not, you really thing that I like acting all mission impossible if I was allowed to come down here and work on this?" she asked and gestured towards her gun.

Ronon glanced at her, "Mission impossible?" he questioned.

"Spy movie," she said flippantly. "but that's besides the point. Where would the fun in life be if I didn't live on the edge a bit and," she paused for a moment. "bend the rules a tad to be more to my liking." she sounding too innocent.

He full out laughed at that, "You mean break 'em don't you?" he asked.

Natalie scowled at him, "I'm not breaking them I'm bending them, get it right." she huffed.

"Is there a difference?" he asked looking at her in amusement.

She looked at him as if he was insane, "Of course there is. I'm only breaking the rules if I get caught," she said cheekily. "otherwise I'm still only bending the riles and the completely innocent girl that I have always been."

Ronon snorted at that, "Yeah because from what I heard about the mission's you've gone on that you are completely innocent and have never done anything wrong or tried to rile anyone up just so that you could fight with them." he said sarcastically.

Natalie shrugged at that, "not my fault the men that we run into on some of those missions doesn't believe a girl to fight, and who am I to deny the chance to prove them wrong." she said with a suppressed smile on her face.

"Hellion you are," Ronon said shaking his head.

"that's my nickname, don't wear it out." Natalie said with a giggle, mentally she slapped herself as if giggling like a little school girl wasn't an obvious sign of a crush and infatuation she didn't know what was.

Ronon had to know that she liked him from that little action but taking a look at him Natalie saw that he was looking at her just as he had been for the last few months, no difference in attitude or the way he stood to show that he knew that she liked him or that hinted that he might like her.

Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts Natalie went back to her weapon and tried to not think about Ronon who was hovering only a few feet away from her, watching her every move as she worked on her gun. People watching her work made her nervous, even growing up Natalie hated it when peopled watched her clean or do stuff like that – she always made sure everyone was gone when she started to clean. Her sister Michie used to think that she hired a maid to come in and do her work for her instead of doing it herself.

After about ten more minutes of working on her gun Natalie was putting the finishing touches on it and putting everything back into place and making sure the parts fit together perfectly, she was a tad bit anal when they didn't.

"You finished?" Ronon asked staring at her and then at the gun.

Natalie nodded, "Yup!" she said excitedly. "Now I just gotta test this bad boy out." she stated happily and all but ran away from the work station and headed down the short not even two minute walk to the practice room so that she could test her new and improved gun out.

Ronon followed her quietly and leaned against the wall besides the door as Natalie got ready to aim her gun at a target but before she could shoot the thing Ronon interrupted the silence that settled. "You sure that you should be doing that? Being injured and all." he said looking at her skeptically.

"Yeah, I feel fine." Natalie answered him truthfully, or semi-truthfully. "Not like it's gonna kill me or anything." she said with a half laugh.

He raised a brow at her, "Anything is possible." he told her knowingly. "You might reopen some of your wounds."

She just rolled her eyes at him, "Don't worry, I wont open any of them up. They're all too healed over by now to reopen, the doctors made sure of that before they gave me the go ahead to be active again." she said to him and once again lifted her gun up and aimed at the target that was about a dozen feet away five or take a few.

Before Ronon could do anything to argue back with her Natalie fired her gun, the gun just like Natalie said let loose three power blasts but what it wasn't supposed to do was send Natalie flying backwards.

"Okay so I may had but just a tad bit too much power behind that one," Natalie said in a sheepish sounding voice as she rubbed the back of her head gingerly and attempted to stand up but she fell backwards again.

Ronon shook his head at her and wrapped his massive hand around her forearm and hauled her up to her feet, "You okay?" he asked searchingly.

Natalie nodded her head and then winced in pain, "Owie, yeah I'm fine. Other then of course, you know, feeling like my head was nearly squeezed off and pushed between a rock and a very hard place." she told him bluntly which made him laugh and shake his head.

"C'mon, lets get you to the infirmary." he said and began to lead her out of the practice room making sure to keep an arm around her waist so that she didn't suddenly fall backwards.

"Pfft! No way in hell cave man," Natalie said pushing against his arm which continued to lead her through the halls. "There's no way in hell I'm going in there and confessing to going to the weapon's bay, I would get my ass chewed and then they would be evil vindictive doctors and make me wait even longer to get my hands on a weapon again just to be cruel, evil creatures that were spawned by Satan."

Ronon stopped and just looked at her for a few seconds, "I understood less then half of that but I think I got the gist. But I'm still taking you to the infirmary, you hit your head pretty hard." he told her.

Natalie shook her head adamantly, "No! I'm not going there." she said to him stubbornly and awkwardly crossed her arms with her broken arm and all.

He took on a hard look, "Yes you are."

"Nope."

"Yes Natalie, you are. I don't care if you don't want to get embarrassed, you are going to the infirmary." he told her fiercely.

Sighing Natalie looked up at him, "How about a compromise." she suggested with a hint of a mysterious smile. "How about you come with me and hang out with me at my room so you can keep a close eye on me, if I start acting weird and crazy take me to the infirmary otherwise lets just stat at my room, hang out and watch boring movies all night,"

Seeing that Natalie wasn't going to give up Ronon conceded, not very happily mind you but he gave in nonetheless, arguing with a Taurus like Natalie was never smart she was way too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

"Fine," he said gruffly. "lets go." he said and before Natalie was able to protest he slung her over his shoulder and started to make his way towards Natalie's room.

"Put me down Ronon I can walk," she stated glaring at his back, where she did have a mighty fine view of his scrumptious ass.

He laughed, "No, I don;t want you to injure yourself further which you would do, so I am carrying you."

Natalie sighed, "I'm not five Ronon, I don't need to be carried," she said with a glare.

"Too bad," he said simply. "Glaring isn't going to make me put you down any sooner then not." he told her.

"Makes me feel better," she said grumpily. "Odio cuando los hombres me echaron sobre sus hombros." she stated in Spanish which made Ronon look at her in confusion but he said nothing.

Stepping off of the transporter when it stopped on the level Natalie's room was, she and Ronon made their way to her room. Stopping in front of her door Natalie cranked her head and looked up at Ronon and he was quite a ways up there since she was so vertically challenged – blame it on not drinking enough milk, blame it on bad DNA but Natalie blames it on life's evil tendencies.

"So your heart still set on hanging out with me in my room to make sure that I'm okay?" Natalie asked looked at Ronon with a put out expression on her face, though on the inside she was nervous and excited, who was she to pass up some time to hang out with Ronon without tons of people surrounding them for once.

He gave her a look that said she should know that he was, "Really think I'm gonna let Keller and Carson yell at me if you end up getting a concussion and never waking up?" he said to her.

Natalie rolled her eyes at that, "I'm not gonna just kneel over and die, besides I only hit my head nothing that serious. If there was some sort of object sticking out of my head, like say a battle axe then you might have to worry but a bump on the head," she scoffed. "nothing compared to that."

"You gonna invite me in or what?" he asked and crossed his massive arms across his chest.

Looking at him Natalie sighed, "You aren't going to let me talk you out of watching over me and hanging out in my room to make sure I don;t die are you?" she asked him already knowing the answer.

He smirked at her, "No. Besides John, Teyla, Lorne and your friend Emilia would kill me." he told her.

"You could take all of them down in five minutes flat," she said as she waved her hand over the sensor opening her door and she led the way inside.

Once inside her room Natalie was a bit self conscious, though she probably shouldn't be considering Ronon and John carried her back to her room on her drunken escapade with Lorne and Emilia - her damsel in distress moment. But at that time it wasn't as lived in as it was now, she had stuff scattered all over the place – books, notebooks, her lap top, pens and clothes.

"Um sorry about the mess I'm kinda lazy in the cleaning department some of the time," she apologized nervously. "I'm gonna quick change out of these clothes, I sparred with Teyla and I'm sure I stink like something else right now. I'll be out in a sec," she said and quickly grabbed some clothes from her dresser and headed into the small bathroom.

While Natalie was in the bathroom Ronon looked around her room, the only other Earth person''s room that he's been in before was Sheppard's but that was pretty sparse other then a poster or two, a mini fridge and a guitar. Natalie's though, her's looked lived in and had a lot more stuff scattered around then John's did.

Ronon was so into looking at the pictures that Natalie had around her room that he didn't realize that she had exited the bathroom until she gently placed her hand on his forearm, "I was twenty-one there," she told him and gestured to one of the pictures on her nightstand. "It was my birthday, and my sister, Michie and a few of my friends went out to celebrate. On earth twenty-one is the age when we are able to drink alcohol legally." she said and smiled. "It's an unwritten rule that when you turn twenty-one you have to get unbelievably drunk on your birthday."

"You look happy," Ronon said not yet looking at Natalie.

Natalie smiled remembering that day, "I was, it was one of the best times of my life." she said to him. "My family means everything to me. Sure they annoy me more often then not but i would do anything for them and they would do anything for me. My mom, my sister, my nieces, my sister's boyfriend Pete. I wouldn't hesitate to do anything for them, no matter what it was that they asked of me."

Ronon looked away from the pictures and at Natalie but he had to do a double take, what she was wearing was the least amount of clothes that he had ever seen on her before and the bottoms that she was wearing were unbelievably short. It was as if she was trying to tempt him, he was definitely attracted to her there was no denying that, she was very much his type but he didn't want to act on it – he didn't want to scare her away.

Natalie couldn't help but grin when she saw how Ronon reacted when he finally looked at her, she was wearing a pair of grey short shorts that showed off more leg then not, and a racer back tank top that's main color was white but had flower designs all over it and a lace inset at the front of it. So it's safe to say that she was showing a bit more then he was used to seeing her showing, though she mostly picked the outfit out because she was feeling in a teasing mood, wanting to see how Ronon would react.

"What about your father?" Ronon asked, swallowing hard and trying to not look at Natalie's very, very appealing body.

At that Natalie gave a dry snort, "He died when I was five," she said simply.

Looking at natalie his eyes softened a bit when he heard that, "How?" he asked curiosuly.

"He drank himself to death, all day and all night all he did was drink until he passed out and doing that for years upon years took it's toll on him and eventually it killed him." Natalie explained sadly.

Though if she was completely honest with herself herfather dying wasn't one of the most life altering experiences that she's ever been through, she barely knew him when he died and he wasn't really the fathering type by the time she was born. So sad to say, her father didn't really make that big of an impression on her in the five years that she had known him.

"When do you get to go off world again?" Ronon asked changing the subject of the talk away from Natalie's father and nonto something else.

Smiling knowingly Natalie plopped down onto her bed and looked at Ronon who sat in the chair that was next to it, "Not soon enough. I tried to convince Carter into letting me go with Lorne and Emilia this time but she flat out said no, I was nearly desperate enough to try and make a diversion so that I could sneak off world but ultimately decided that was a bad idea. I would get my ass kicked by Lorne, Emilia, Teyla and Carter if I tried to do that." she told him.

"Not to mention you wouldn't be much use with a broken arm," he told her with a joking smirk on his face.

At that Natalie pouted and hit him on the chest, "Hey now, you gotta be nice to me Ronon. I'm the injured one here. No need kick me while I'm already down." she said to him with an amused smile on her face, showing that she didn't really take insult to what he said.

He smirked at her, "Hey just telling it like it is."

Natalie looked at Ronon, "So what do you want to do?" she asked curiously.

Ronon thought a few moments before he answered, "Tell me about your family."

"For the next few hours Natalie and Ronon just talked about random stuff, anything and everything that could possibly come to mind. What they wanted out of life, where they thought they would be in five years, what their likes and dislikes were, what they liked to do in their free time and things like that. Eventually Natalie started to get sleepy, but she didn't want to go to sleep and have Ronon leave, she liked listening to him talk so instead she just rested her head on Ronon's shoulder and listened to him talk about his time in the Satedan army and fell asleep.

A/N: have another surprise. Nat's outfit after changing from Work out clothes itno some normal ones while her aned Ronon hang out for a while.

Outfit: .com/worlds_away_nats_outfit_when/set?id=22790699


	16. Home

Disclaimer: Sadly i do not own Stargate Atlantis because if i did Ronon would never leave the bedroom. Yum sexiness.

A/N: Okay Hope you all like this Chapter i meant to get it out yesterday but sadly it just didn't work out that way. Ronon/Natalie relationship is starting to go further along but no kisses or sexiness as of yet.

A/N: this Chapter is dedicated to all of my reviewers

Angelle Darque

Forestreject

Crye 4 Me

lanteanscribe

OceanSapphire

Home is not where you live, but where they understand you

-Christan Morganstern

Chapter sixteen

"You were not at the evening meal last night," Teyla stated looking at Natalie suspiciously as the two were getting some breakfast that morning. "Neither was Ronon." she said giving her a look.

Natalie glanced at her friend and tried to not looked surprised, "Hmm. Well imagine that." she said trying to sound nonchalant as she grabbed some food. "What a coincidence."

That made Teyla raise her brow at Natalie, "He was not in his room when John went looking for him." she said and gave Natalie a knowing look. "Where were you two?" she asked.

Natalie gave a fake laugh at that, "And what makes you think we were together?" she asked with a playful grin as they went further down the food line. "For all you know he could have been doing the loner thing and I could have been in my room doing another video to send back home."

"Natalie," Teyla said giving her a reproachful look. "I am a woman, John and Rodney may not notice the changes that have been happening between yourself and Ronon but I do," she told her with a half smile. "You are more happy now, more lively then you were before. You smile more then I have ever seen you smile before. It's obvious to me that Ronon is the one who has made you so much more happy."

When Teyla said that Natalie gave a slight smile, she didn't want to admit it but Teyla was right, so very, very right. She was...not happy, but content before she and Ronon started talking; she had friends who were like family to her – Teyla, Emilia, Lorne and James but she wasn't completely happy. Ronon though, he made her feel more accepted, not because she wasn't accepted by everyone on Atlantis because she was but they were alike, kindred souls so to say. After you get over the gruff and brash attitude that Ronon had and got to know him, really got to know him it was hard to not like him.

Natalie looked at Teyla, "We hung out in my room and talked about almost everything that came to mind. He told me about his time in the Satedan army and I told him about my family and what I used to do for fun on Earth." she told her friend as they took a seat in the mess hall near one of the windows.

"You just talked?" Teyla asked eying her.

"Yes Teyla, all we did was talk." Natalie said to her friend and took a bite out of her food. "We didn't do anything but talk, no sex no nothing like that so stop your dirty mind where it is." she told her.

Teyla smirked at her, "I did not say anything about it being sexual Natalie, you, are the one who brought it up my dear." she told her.

Natalie glared at her playfully, "Ha ha Teyla, you are so funny." she said with an unamused look.

At that Teyla just smiled at her.

Shaking her head Natalie took a sip of her water bottle, what she wouldn't do for chocolate milk or something other then water to drink all of the time during meals.

"So when are you going to New Athos again?" Natalie asked curiously.

Teyla looked up at Natalie, "I am not certain. I was thinking that I may go some time during the next week if we do not have a mission to go on. Why, do you need something from there?" she asked.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah I was hoping that I could come with. I'm starting to get stir crazy having to stay on Atlantis for so long and not to mention that my sister's birthday is coming up soon and I definitely know she would die if she got some of the clothing from your village." she said and looked at Teyla hopefully.

"You are always welcome to come with me my friend," Teyla said looking at Natalie.

Just as Natalie was about to respond to that Carter walked over to the two of them and looked down at Natalie seriously, "Can I talk to you after you are done eating?" she asked but it was more of a command then anything.

"Yeah," Natalie said with a nod. "No problem Carter." she said looking at her and wondering what it was that she wanted to talk to her about exactly, she hasn't done anything wrong or accidentally shot anyone lately – that one time she shot Michaels was purely an accident, the fact that he had challenged her fighting abilities that day was just a coincidence. Plus he healed up just fine.

Carter smiled at Natalie in thanks, "Okay, see you in a bit. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast." she stated and then walked away and back to her office.

Once she was out of ear shot both Natalie and Teyla turned towards one and another, "What do you think that is about?" Teyla asked.

Natalie shrugged, "No idea," she said with a concentrating look on her face, trying to figure out why Carter would want to talk to her, she already knew it wasn't because she wanted to put her back on active duty as much as she's begged her to do it. "Hopefully nothing life changing."

"If it was something bad she would have requested for you to talk with her immediately not once you are done eating." Teyla told her.

At that Natalie nodded her agreement, "Very true." she said and took one last bite of an apple and stood up. "I'll talk at you later, I'm off to face the music." she said which made Teyla shake her head in amusement.

Throwing the rest of her uneaten food away Natalie headed out of the mess hall and made her way to Carter's office so that Carter could talk to her about whatever it is that she needed to talk to her about.

Knocking on the the door of Carter's office Natalie hesitantly walked inside and saw that Carter was sitting at her desk looking over some file or another, she looked up at Natalie with a slight smile and motioned for her to sit down in the chair across from her desk.

"Thanks for coming Natalie," Carter said to her.

Natalie nodded looking at Carter suspiciously, "So what exactly do you want to talk to me about Carter because last time I checked I haven't done anything wrong or overly violent lately." she said staring at her intently.

At that comment Carter couldn't help but laugh a bit, "Yes I know Natalie, I promise you this is nothing bad." she said trying to ease the worry that she could see all over Natalie's face.

"That's good to know," Natalie said relieved. "But what do you want to talk about then?" she asked her.

Carter sighed and then started to explain why she asked Natalie to her office, "You see I've been looking over your file and you've been working here on Atlantis for three in a half years straight without ever going back home for a break." she paused and Natalie was about to say something but Carter raised her hand signaling for her to let her finish. "You are a determined person, one of the best fighters we have here, very loyal, you learn fast and are very hands on. But even some of the best fighters need a break once in a while."

"So what are you saying?" Natalie asked with a scowl on her face. "You want me to leave here for a while, you think I'm a risk because of what happened on that planet. Look Carter you've been keeping me off missions for weeks, if I haven't dealt and accepted what happened by now, then I never will."

"I know that Natalie and I know that you've dealt in your own way," carter started. "But I think it would be in your best interest if you got off of Atlantis for a while, to get away from the missions for a while and to go see your family. You haven't seen your family since you came to work here, not once in the three years. You need to go and visit your family. Don;t you miss them?"

Natalie glared at Carter, "You don't know what my best interest is Carter, you don't know me Carter, not as well as you think. I'm not going back to Earth no matter what you say." she said stubbornly and in anger. "I do miss my family, I love them it's hard to not love them but I do video messages for them and they send some back to me so I do get to see them just not in person. I'm needed here Carter. I do a damn good job."

"I will order you to go back to Earth if I have to Natalie," Carter said not liking that she had to threaten one of her people. "I don't like it but I will do it. Staying up here all of the time is not healthy for you."

That made Natalie give a dry laugh, "order me? Order me Carter? Don't treat me like a dog Carter. I respect you but don't you dare order me around. You might be in charge of this mission but you can't order me to do anything that I don't want to." she told her.

Carter cringed at that, she knew Natalie hated the word 'order' when it didn't have to do with the missions she goes on. "Natalie I-"

Natalie stood up and slammed her hands down on Carter's desk, "Maybe if you had asked me you would have found out that I was planning on going back to Earth for my sister's wedding but that isn't until February."

"I'm sorry Natalie I-"

"Don't Carter, don't try to apologize right now because I'll only end up saying something mean and bitchy." Natalie said as she took in slow even breaths. "Are you done now or are you gonna lecture me some more?" she asked and crossed her arms.

Carter looked at her apologetically, "You may leave." she stated.

Natalie resisted the urge to growl at her and stalked out of the office, the second she left she saw that there were people just standing around looking at her with wide eyes not believing that she just talked to Carter like that. Baring her teeth at everyone they quickly jumped into action and went about what they were doing and not wanting to have to suffer at the wrath of Natalie. Quickly leaving the immediate vicinity Natalie yelled in frustration, she had no idea where she was going but just knew that she needed to get away from people so she headed toward the closest transporters to take her away from everyone for a while.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ East Pier ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Since that morning when Natalie had her argument with Carter she's been avoiding people to the best of her ability, when she got angry Natalie was mean and rude and basically a very unpleasant person to be around when she got in a mood. When people tried to help her when she was angry she usually ended up taking out all of her anger out on them, so not wanting to be mean or insult any of her friends Natalie instead decided to isolate herself on the pier for most of the day.

"Why do you always come to this one?" Ronon asked walking up behind Natalie.

Natalie glanced up at him and shrugged before turning back and looking at the water, "I don't know really, I just have always come to this one ever since I first came to Atlantis." she answered him.

"So I heard you got in a fight with Carter today," He said as he lowered himself down next to Natalie and looked at her with a half smirk and a half questioning look.

Hearing that Natalie sighed, "God I didn't know Atlantis was filled with gossiping girls," she said making Ronon grin. "Carter wanted to send me home, back to Earth." she told him as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees and looked at him sideways.

Ronon looked at her surprised, "She's firing you?" he asked wondering why Carter would do something like that.

"No," Natalie said shaking her head. "I haven't left Atlantis to go and visit my family since I came to work here and she say's its not healthy for me to not go back to work. She thinks that I need a break after everything that I've been through in the last few months. I told her no. I don't want to go down to Earth." she admitted.

"But it's your home." Ronon said looking at her oddly.

She gave a half smile at that, "Well yeah, I was born there and everything and have friends and family there but it's never felt like home. Even with my family I never felt like I belonged but here, here I know I belong." Natalie said to him. "Atlantis, Atlantis is my home now. I've never felt so at ease being in one place for so long, I don't have the urge to move whatsoever and that's saying something."

Ronon looked at her in understanding, "You aren't the only one who feels that way Natalie. I was a runner for seven years." he said and looked out over the ocean. "for seven years of my life I was a runner, running to stay alive and make it one more day and then suddenly I didn't have to anymore. I had no idea what to do, but then John offered me a place on his team. I didn't have anywhere else to go so I took it, it's been years since I felt like I had a home, not since Sateda but here, this place, this is a home."

For a few minutes there was a comfortable silence but soon Natalie broke it, "I do love my home back on Earth, I love my family there but I don't fit in, not really. That's why I don't mind being up here for years on end." she stated.

"Will you ever go back?" Ronon asked.

Natalie laughed, "I kinda have to, my sister will kill me if I'm not there for her wedding. Not to mention I'm in the wedding so safe to say I will get my ass handed to me if I'm not on Earth for her wedding." she told him. "But if you mean if I had to choose between Earth and Atlantis, I would definitely choose to stay here."

Ronon looked at Natalie in a new light, anyone who was willing to give up the world they were from to live in one that they felt like they belonged more so was a very strong person. Especially when the said person, Natalie, didn't have any family in the galaxy she wanted to stay in.

A/N: Hope you like it and as always reviews are appreciated and if you want to give me idea's you're welcome to.

Smooches


	17. Hormonal

Disclaimer: As always i don't own Stargate Atlantis sadly as much as i would love to.

A/N: Like always I love reviews and hope you all like this chapter, not much interesting stuff going on in it but it's better then no chapter. If you want give me idea's like i said in the last chapter. Smooches sweethearts.

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.  
Muhammad Ali

Chapter seventeen

A few days after Natalie's argument with Carter and she was in the infirmary getting a check up from Keller, who, at the moment was checking over her wounds to make sure her wounds were all healed up and to make sure that there wasn't any sign of infection that could make her sick.

"So what's the verdict Keller?" Natalie asked once Keller was done looking over her and doing a body scan to be sure everything was okay.

Keller turned to Natalie, "Well everything is healing up nicely and you are one of the fastest healers that I have ever met before. I'm glad to say that you are all healed up and can go about your normal routine once again." she said to her.

At that Natalie grinned, "So that means I can go off world on missions finally?" she said looking at her hopefully.

"Uh no," Keller deadpanned. "Sorry Nat but you are going to have to wait a few more weeks by that time we'll be able to take your cast off." she said and gestured towards Natalie's broken arm. "How did you manage to write your mission report since you broke your arm."

Natalie smirked, "Ambidextrous, I can write with both my right and left hand." she explained.

"Really? That's a useful talent." Keller said to her. "You've done that your whole life."

"No," she said shaking her head, "I was injure prone when I was young and messed up my right hand and still had to do school work. So I taught myself to write left handed." she said with a shrug.

Keller smiled at that and wrote a few things down on her clipboard and looked back up at Natalie, "Well you're free to go, no sneaking off world for a mission Natalie. I mean it." she said sternly.

"I only did that once," Natalie retorted. "God I'll never live that down will I." she said as she left the infirmary.

Leaving the infirmary Natalie took one forceful step out of the infirmary and immediately hit something very hard and warm, before she was able to fall to the ground in what would have been a very painful experience two massive arms wrapped around her.

"Should watch where you're goin' Natalie," Ronon said as he set her back onto her feet.

At that Natalie bit her lip and gave him a half smirk, "If I did that then you'd never have a reason to catch me and where would the fun in that be?" she asked while trying it not to blush at how forward she was being.

He smirked down at her, besides Ronon was Teyla who Natalie could see was shaking her head in amusement at the interaction in between the two, the flirting between them was nearly sickening.

"Oh Ronon," Teyla said gaining his and Natalie's attention. "I forgot that acrter wanted me to tell Keller something I will join you, John and McKay in the Jumper bay in a few minutes alright."

In response he just grunted, Teyla smiled to herself and watched as the two continued on walking down the hallway not paying her any mind nor noticing that she didn't really go to the infirmary to talk to Keller.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Natalie and Ronon ~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~

"So goin' on a mission huh?" Natalie stated more then asked.

Ronon nodded, "Yeah, some villages are getting stock and feed stolen from them during the night and said that they've seen cloaked figures around the forest's, they want us to help out or whatever." he said as the two started to head down the hall. "Not much of a mission if you ask me."

Natalie patted him on his massive arm and tried to resit from sighing at the heat that was radiating off of his skin, "Be happy you get to go off world at all, I'm starting to go crazy being stuck here all day." she told him.

"What'd the doc say?" he asked looking down at her curiously.

"All healed up and can start sparring like I used to but have to wait a few more weeks till I can get this damn thing off," she said and raised her right arm that was in a cast. "I was starting to feel like a caged animal not able to do anything but walk around and watch everyone come and go on missions."

Ronon glanced at her and gave a half smile, "You sound like a Satedan, barely able to stand still." he told her.

That made Natalie grin, "I'll take that as a compliment, thank you Ronon." she told him sincerely.

Natalie knew that Ronon telling her that she sounded like a Satedan was a big deal, to him that was the highest honor that he could ever give anyone.

"It's true." Ronon said with a shrug.

Soon enough they made it to the transporters, "Well have fun on the mission and try not to kill anyone or at least try to not kill Rodney out of boredom no matter how annoying he gets." she said with a joking smile.

He grinned at that, "I'll try to restrain myself." he said and got in the transporter and Natalie waved at him as the doors closed.

Sighing dreamily to herself Natalie leaned against the wall next to the transporter, if only she could control her raging hormones. Seriously she is starting to act like a little fourteen year old who has her first crush. It scared her, how much she really liked Ronon and how just him being around made her stutter and forget her name and what she was supposed to be doing most of the time; her stomach got in knots and she just had no idea how to act or what she should say to him most times.

Once she got her hormones under control Natalie went to her room, it's been a while since she's done a video log to send to her sister even though Michie has sent tons of them in return. Not to mention she needed some sisterly/friend advice on Ronon, on what she should do or say to him or if she is just overreacting or what really. Basically she just needed someone to vent to about everything.

"Hey Michie," Natalie started as she began to record her video log. "This is for both you and Alicia. I know it's been forever since I've sent you a video and I know you're probably saying that you're gonna beat my ass with a heavy book for doing that but I've had a lot going on in my life lately." she paused for a moment.

"I met a guy, well I didn't really meet him since I already knew him kind of, I work with him but before we were just acquaintances but now we're kinda in between friends and something else and I have no idea what to do now. I like him, I really, really like him and you both know that I like...suck with guys and people in general." Natalie said and ran her hands through her braided hair. "His name's Ronon. He's massive, at least six feet if not taller, has long hair that's put into dreadlocks, he's quiet, gruff and a force to be reckoned with. He, well I don't know, he's just wow. Ronon is hard to explain you'd have to meet him to understand what I mean. I just, he makes me feel all frazzled," the second she said that Natalie groaned. "I can;t believe I just said frazzled, god I'm such a dork."

"Anyways," Natalie said shaking her head. "I need advice from you guys on what I should do and no Michie attacking him in the hallway and seducing him is not the kind of advice I want on what to do with Ronon." she stated knowing what her sister would say.

Just as Natalie finished with her video log there was a chime at her door, getting up and off of her bed Natalie waved her hand over the sensor the doors opened to reveal Emilia and Lorne who were standing suspiciously close to one and another for just being friends.

"We've been looking for you," Emilia said to Natalie with hands on hips and trying to give her a stern face but it didn't work so well, she and Natalie both burst into hysterical laughter.

Lorne shook his head at the two, "Okay giggle twins calm down." he said to them.

Once Natalie controlled herself she looked at Emilia in amusement, "Okay Miss Badass what's up with you two?" she asked gesturing to her and Lorne.

"Nothing really," Lorne answered seeing as Emilia was still giggling. "Decided to come and find you since we haven't really seen you all day."

Natalie grinned, "Awe you guys really do love me." she said with a joking smile. "I didn't know that you cared."

Lorne snorted, "Yeah sarcasm and all." he said to her.

"Anywho," Emilia said pulling Natalie out of her room. "We're kidnapping you for a while."

At that Natalie looked between her two friends in amusement, "You are, are you." she stated and crossed her arms looking between Lorne and Emilia.

"Yup," Emilia said and practically dragged Natalie down the hallway with Lorne following behind them in amusement.

The three decided to go outside and enjoy the nice warm weather of the planet that they were inhabiting, it was nice all year around on this planet unlike the weather of Earth. Somehow while the three were talking about Natalie rejoining the team on missions in the next few weeks the conversation turned towards Natalie and Ronon; Emilia and Lorne making fun of Natalie and how her and Ronon seemed to dance around each other instead of admitting that they like one and another. When they started making fun of her and Ronon, Natalie decided to reciprocate and ask Emilia and Lorne why they weren't dating yet which in turn made the two shut up about anyone liking anyone else and changed the subject.

Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.  
Francesco Guicciardini

A/N: so happy i was able to get anohter chapter out today, this one is kinda boring really more like a filler but hey better then nothing at all.


	18. Hooker Names and Anger

Disclaimer: as always do not own as much as i would love to or love to be sucked into the Stargate Atlantis world. how kickass would that be.

A/N: thanks reviewers you guys keep me going and make me realize that there are people out there who read my stories.

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten."

Buddha 

Chapter Eighteen

The day after Teyla, Rodney, John and Ronon had gotten back from their mission that they had gone on Natalie and Teyla were getting ready to leave Atlantis for New Athos. Teyla was going to see how some of her people were and do some trading with them, meanwhile Natalie was going so that one she could get off of Atlantis for a while and to get some stuff in the market place.

"Are you ready to go Natalie?" Teyla asked looking at her friend.

Natalie nodded and grabbed a small pack in it that had a bit of money in it for buying some stuff in Athos with. "Yup! Let's head on out." she said overly excited, it's been weeks if not months since she's been able to leave Atlantis.

Teyla smiled at her excitement, "Good, lets leave them. We are meeting Ronon in the Jumper Bay." she said to her and started to lead the way there.

At those words Natalie looked at Teyla in confusion, "Ronon? Ronon's coming with?" she asked and felt her stomach get all jumbled up.

Hearing the slight stutter in her friend's voice Teyla couldn't help but smirk at her, "Yes I must have forgotten to tell you that. He wants to get off world for a while and not to just fight so I told him that he was welcome to come with us." she stated with a knowing look. "You do not mind do you?"

Immediately Natalie shook her head, and then mentally hit herself, her doing that would so be obvious to Teyla that she liked Ronon. "No it's all good. Just was surprised was all."

All Teyla did in response to that was snicker a bit, arriving in the Jumper bay both girls could see Ronon standing impatiently by one of the jumpers waiting for them to get there so that they could leave. For a few moments Natalie stood stock still and just stared at Ronon, it was hard not to he just stood out.

He was wearing his usual brown leather hide pants, gun holster around his waist, had his long sleeved tan v neck shirt on that had a worn in/peasant look to it and he had his dreads tied back which made her bite her lip, he looked sexy when he tied it back.

"Hey Natalie, you alright?" Ronon asked waving a hand in front of her face to pull her out of her day dream.

Natalie shook her head and nodded at Ronon, "Yeah I'm fine just zoned for a second." she said and rubbed her forehead. "We ready to go then?" she asked her two companions both of whom nodded.

Walking inside the jumper Natalie took the driver seat so to say, Teyla sat in the seat behind her and in the co-pilot seat was Ronon. Natalie knew for a fact that Teyla did that on purpose, for not ever being to Earth before Teyla sure had the annoying matchmaking talent down to a T. Sending a glare to Teyla Natalie turned back around and buckled herself into the seat and took off.

~*~*~*~*~*~ New Athos ~*~*~*~*~*~

Once Natalie landed the jumper in Athos Teyla immediately jumped off and headed into the village to talk about trading and to catch up with some of her people that she has not seen in a while. Natalie though had an inkling that there was a special someone that she really wanted to see but so far Teyla hasn't told her anything about this said person as of yet. The three agreed to meet back up at the local Tavern in about an hour or so, time enough for them all to do what they needed.

"So what exactly do you need to get?" Ronon asked as he glanced down at Natalie curiously.

Natalie looked up at Ronon and then towards the market place, "You know you don't need to come with me, I've been here plenty of times before." she told him.

He shrugged at her, "Maybe I want to go with you." he said as he gently brushed a few strands of her braids behind her ears.

At that Natalie's breath caught in her throat, not sure how she was supposed to respond to that or if she even was supposed to. "Er, um, yeah." she said intelligently.

Ronon grinned at that, "So what are you looking for?" he asked her.

"Uhh," Natalie blinked a few times before she processed what Ronon said. "My sister's birthday is coming up. I wanted to get her something and a few things for my niece's. I got yelled at the last time I didn't send something for everyone." she said with a shake of her eyes.

He gently took her arm and led her towards the market place, "Well lets get looking around around then." he said to her.

Over the next hour or so Natalie and Ronon wandered around the market place, stopping at some of the booth's that there was in the village and paying for the things that Natalie wanted to get. For her sister Natalie ended up getting her some of the tank top corset looking shirts that Teyla has, those were right up her sister's alley. Along with those Natalie got her an interesting looking necklace that was made out of yarn with some wooden beads on it, it looked very native.

At the moment Natalie was paying one of the merchants when she heard Ronon's loud laugh, turning around she saw him talking with one of the village women who was shamelessly flirting with him and he wasn't doing anything to refute the attempts. Taking the hand made dolls from the merchant Natalie put them in her pack and tried to calm her angry breathing and not go over there and bitch slap the woman. Natalie had no right to be jealous, she had no claim whatsoever on Ronon, he was free to flirt with whoever he wanted to but even so it pissed Natalie off, she liked Ronon and has tried to give Ronon signs but he hasn't done anything about them yet.

"Hey Ronon," Natalie said walking over to where he and the 'woman' were talking at. "I'm done." she told him and glared icily at the woman that was in front of her.

The woman smiled sweetly at Natalie, "You must be his little sister," she said and grabbed for Natalie's cheek but she swiped at her hand. "Aren't you a cute little thing."

Natalie clenched her teeth, "Woman do not patronize me, if I really wanted to I could kick your ass in five minutes flat if not less so don't talk to me as if I am a five year old which I most definitely am not. You on the other hand," she said gesturing to the woman's stick thin and barely developed body. "You may look more like one then I do." she said rudely and then glared up at Ronon and then the woman again before turning and stalking towards the tavern so that she could get a drink.

Sitting at an empty table and drinking her Pegasus version of beer Natalie tried to tell herself over and over again that she wasn't jealous, that Ronon wasn't HER man but damn it if she didn't wish that he was. And that woman, where in the hell did she think that she had a chance with Ronon, if Natalie didn't have a chance in hell then that woman – stick woman – definitely didn't have a chance. In fact Natalie was starting to believe that no one had a chance with Ronon, that he wasn't interested in dating, be it a woman or a man – though if he was interested in men that would be a big loss to the female race.

"That was kind of rude of you," Ronon said startling Natalie from her thoughts as he took a seat at the table across from Natalie, drink in hand.

Natalie sent him a dark look, "I don't really care if I was or not to tell you the truth. I don't like her, there's something wrong with her." she said to him and took a big gulp of her drink.

He stared at her, "You don't even know her," he said.

"So," Natalie stated with a shrug. "I know her type, there were plenty of women like her back on Earth, more then enough to go around." she said to him, talking more to herself then him really.

Ronon sighed heavily, having no idea what's gotten into Natalie and why she seems to hate that women so much when she only just met her. "What's going on with you Natalie?" he questioned.

Natalie didn't even look at him when she answered, "What do you care Ronon?" she retorted nastily.

She knew that she shouldn't have said that but she was angry and jealous and she was a Taurus and those combinations together is not a good thing, it makes her nasty, mean and spiteful without a care who she is like that to.

Ronon was about to respond to that question but he quickly closed his mouth when he realized the mood that Natalie was in, he's heard stories from her teammates as well as other people on Atlantis at how mean she could get when she was angry at someone and he did not want to me on the receiving end of her anger. Though from what he could tell, he did something to piss her off but he has no idea what.

"So what's her name?" Natalie asked after about fifteen minutes of silence.

"Cheruna."

hearing that Natalie snorted in amusement, "Even her name sounds like a hooker name." she said shaking her head to herself.

Before Ronon was able to ask what a hooker was Teyla walked up to them and say down with them at the table, "Hello." she said to them with a smile.

"Guessing things went well," Ronon said and glanced at the pile of stuff that Teyla brought with her.

Teyla nodded, "Yes, very much so. My people have had very good crops this year and have been able to spare more then the necessary amount to us." she said happily.

"Isn't that nice," Natalie said darkly not bothering to even look up from her drink that she was concentrating on so intently.

Noticing the bad attitude that Natalie seemed to have gained since she last saw her Teyla looked over at Ronon questioningly but he just shrugged, silently telling her that he had no idea what was wrong with Natalie and why she was acting so angry and hostile at the moment.

"Did you find something for your sister Natalie?" Teyla asked breaking the tense silence.

At that Natalie nodded, "Yeah I found a few things that she'll like hopefully. She's always hard to buy for." she told her and then gave Ronon a menacing glare. "Ronon made a new friend."

Now it all made sense to Teyla, she realized why exactly Natalie was acting the way that she was. It wasn't because she was angry at Ronon, it was because she was jealous of the woman that Ronon had been talking to – if she wasn't in the current company Teyla would have burst out laughing at the irony of the situation.

"Are you two ready to leave?" she asked looking between the angry faced Natalie and the scowling Ronon.

Natalie nodded and stood up, "Yeah lets get out of here, I promised Emilia and Lorne I would try to make it back in time for lunch." she said without even looking at Ronon.

With that said the three made their way back to the Jumper without saying a word to one and another, Natalie took the pilot seat and instead of Ronon sitting besides her Teyla did and Ronon took the spot behind Teyla. The three left New Athos and headed back for Atlantis, Natalie doing everything in her power to not purposely jerk the jumper to make Ronon hit his head on the wall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Atlantis: Jumper Bay ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you need any help with the supplies Teyla?" Natalie asked gesturing to the bags of stuff that Teyla's fellow Athosian's had gave to them, she purposely put her back to Ronon, ignoring him.

Teyla gave a hint of a smile and shook her head, "No Natalie; Ronon and I will be more then able to handle carrying these by ourselves. You go on and meet up with Lorne and Emilia. I will speak to you later." she spoke and motioned for Natalie to leave.

Natalie gave a thankful smile to Teyla and then glanced at Ronon and gave him a dark look before quickly heading out of there, she had no wish whatsoever to be near Ronon at the moment.

Once she had left hearing range Ronon turned towards Teyla with a look, "Whats going on with her?" he asked as he hefted a bag of food into his arms. "She was happy most of the day and then once she told me she was done getting what she needed she was pissed." he said shaking his head in frustration.

Hearing that Teyla looked at Ronon, "Do you truly have no idea Ronon?" she asked looking at him in surprise.

"Know what?" he asked gruffly. "I don't got a clue to what I did to piss her off so badly."

Sighing heavily Teyla stopped and looked up at Ronon, "Listen very closely Ronon, I am telling you this to both yours and Natalie's benefit. You must, under no circumstance ever tell Natalie that I did this. Do you understand?" she asked him giving him a pointed look.

"Teyla, she's not exactly talking to me at the moment." Ronon told her with a sigh. "Doubt there's a problem with me telling her about this." he said to her. "So clue me in here."

Teyla stared at him a few moments before saying anything, "If you use what I am about to tell you against Natalie in any way there is nothing that will be able to protect you from me, I will hunt you down Ronon. I don't care if you were a runner for seven years I will do all that I can to hurt you if you hurt Natalie." she said to him in a dead serious tone of voice.

Seeing the dead serious look on Teyla's face made Ronon want to know even more why Natalie was so angry at him, "I won't Teyla. I'd never do anything like that." he stated. "So why is she angry?"

"Ronon," Teyla said slowly. "Natalie likes you."

Ronon blinked a few times not sure why that statement explained why Natalie was so angry at him, he and Natalie were friends he knew that she liked him, they two had a lot in common with one and another.

"Okay," Ronon said looking at Teyla oddly. "Why'd you threaten me to tell me that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Teyla sighed heavily at that, not believing how oblivious Ronon could be with the opposite sex sometimes. "No Ronon, I mean that she is interested in you in the romantic sense, she find's you attractive and if I didn't know any better I would say that you think of her in the same way." she told him with a knowing look. "Natalie never acted on her feelings because she does not believe that you would want her or be attracted to her."

Hearing that Ronon couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction but then the fact that Natalie was angry at him wiped the smirk right off of his face. "Then what'd I do to make her so angry at me?" he asked genuinely confused as to what he did to set her off.

"She's jealous Ronon," Teyla said giving him an amused smirk. "When she saw you talking to that woman in New Athos she thought that you liked her better then you liked Natalie." she explained to him with an amused smile on her face. "Natalie does not take rejection well, and I don't think that she ever has. She may act strong and look strong on the outside but she is still a woman Ronon, and women do not like to be rejected by someone that they like and are attracted to. If you do anything with her, be careful Ronon. She is very breakable." she told him.

Ronon didn't answer her, he was still processing what she had just told him. That Natalie, the girl he saved and has gotten to know over the last couple of months was interested in him in the same way as he was interested in her. Now everything that happened between Natalie and Cheruna made sense; her rudeness, anger and basically her being standoffish – she was jealous that he was talking to Cheruna.

"I need to talk to her," he said and was about to drop what he was carrying and go hunt her down but Teyla grabbed his arm before he was able to.

Ronon glared down at Teyla but she just shook her head, "Ronon I think perhaps it would be best if you gave her a bit of time to cool down before you decide to go and talk to her. If you go right now she will just end up yelling more and saying things that she does not mean and in turn that will make you angry and it would not end well."

Ronon looked disgruntled at having to wait to talk to Natalie but he knew that Teyla was right, he needed to give Natalie a few hours to calm down and get her emotions under control before he decided to approach her about what he just found out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Natalie ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For the last twenty minutes Natalie has been looking all over Atlantis looking for Emilia or Keller or hell even Carter to talk to about Ronon, she needed someone to vent to and complain about what happened on New Athos. She knew that she had no right to act possessive or jealous towards Ronon but that didn't stop her any, hell it took all her control whenever she was around him to not rip his clothes off and have her way with him. So her controlling her anger about him talking to another woman was definitely out of the question.

"Emi, Lorne!" Natalie said sighing in relief. "Thank god you're here." she said as she walked past Emilia and into her room, it was the last place she could think of that Emilia could have been.

Lorne and Emilia looked between each other in confusion, "Uhh Natalie, hey. I thought you were on New Athos with Ronon and Teyla." Emilia said not sure what her friend was doing in her room and not hanging out with Ronon and trying to catch his attention.

At that Natalie growled, "Who care's right now. He, was talking to some stick thin looking, hooker name having girl there anyways. So what does it matter now." Natalie said in anger and plopped down into the chair that was in the room.

"Okay," Lorne said and stood up. "I get the feeling that this is going to turn into a girl only conversation so I am going to leave before I become scarred for life from the topics that you will most likely talk about." he said and made a quick exit before the girls could start gossiping.

Once Lorne was gone Emilia turned to look at Natalie who was sitting in the chair with a scowl on her face and arms crossed, Emilia pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing at how funny Natalie looked.

"So what happened between you and Ronon?" Emilia asked looking at Natalie in concern, usually whenever Natalie was done hanging out with Ronon she always came back as if she was on cloud nine but this time she looked like she had the doom and gloom cloud hovering over her.

Natalie gave a small growl, "Nothing, absolutely nothing. He met a girl, _Cheruna_, sound's like a hooker name to me. They were chatting and talking as if they were old friends." she stated not looking at Emilia. "And the girl even had the audacity to say that I was his little sister. Pfft, do I look like his little sister, no. I am not his little sister. I'm, well I don't know what I am but I'm definitely not his little sister."

"Natalie," Emilia said interrupting Natalie before she could go off on a tangent. "You do realize that Ronon is anti-social right?" she asked carefully.

That earned Emilia a glare, "Yes Emilia I know that. Is there a point to this?" Natalie asked looking at Emilia as if she was the enemy trying to take her goodies.

Emilia smiled at that, "Yes there is. Ronon is anti-social natlaie which means that he didn't approach the girl Cheruna, she probably came up to him and just started talking to him." she said trying to get Natalie to understand the situation and not be so angry.

"Doesn't mean he had to talk back to her."

At that Emilia sighed, "Natalie if you don't want him to show interest in others you are going to have to tell him about how you feel about him or else you are going to feel like this every time you see him with another woman." she said giving Natalie a half smile. "You need to tell Ronon that you are interested in him and soon."

Sighing Natalie ran her hands through her braids, "Yeah but what if he doesn't feel the same way about me?" she asked in a oddly out of place small tone of voice making her look so much younger then she was.

"Natalie," Emilia said softly and sat on the arm of the chair and gave her friend a hug. "If he doesn't think of you in the same way then he definitely can not see, but Natalie you need to take a leap of faith and tell him."

"Anger is only a natural reaction; one of the mind's ways of reacting to things that it percieves to be wrong. While anger can sometimes lead people to do shocking things,it can also be an instinct to show people that something isn't right."

Similar Quotes. About: Anger quotes.

A/N: Hope you like it, i know i kind of ended it at a shitty spot but it was getting a bit long and i want to get the next chapter out tonight so yeah be happy wiht this.

A/N: as always i love reviews and you can give me idea's if you want.


	19. Finally!

A/N: Yay! New chapter, i meant ot get this out sooner but i've been working both of my jobs and had some family obligations to do - family reunions and such and not to mention i went to the flea market.

Anywho hope you like this chapter.

Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.  
There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.

- Henry Kissinger

I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox

- Woody Allen

Chapter nineteen

It was late, or rather very early in the morning when there was a loud pounding knock on Natalie's door, groggily Natalie got out of bed and looked at the clock besides her bed – one-thirty in the morning. Groaning Natalie stumbled her way over to the door but didn't open it.

"Who is it?" she asked trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"It's me," the deep and very sexy voice of Ronon said from the other side of the door.

At that Natalie's eyes widened, she really didn't want to deal with him right now, sure she was all calmed down and Emilia made her realize that she either needs to tell Ronon how she feels about him or get over him but it doesn't mean that she's ready to admit anything this soon.

Sighing in resignation Natalie realized that he wouldn't leave until he was able to talk to her, he was nearly as stubborn if not more so, then she herself was. Waving her hand over the sensor she waited for the door to open and when it did she looked into the intense face of Ronon.

"What in the hell are you doing here Ronon?" she asked in an annoyed/tired tone of voice with her hands on her hops. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked him accusingly.

Ronon just looked at her and walked straight past her into her room and waved his hand over the palm sensor effectively shutting the door, it was clear to Natalie that Ronon had something on his mind and that he was going to talk to her about it whether she wanted to or not.

For a few moments Ronon just stared at her, as if he was expecting her to suddenly disappear. "You've been avoiding me all day." he stated his eyebrows scrunching together in concentration. "You haven't talked to me since we left New Athos."

"That's why you came to my room so early in the morning?" Natalie asked Ronon incredulously. "Because I was angry at you and wouldn't talk to you? Okay Ronon, I'm not angry at you anymore and I'm sorry for avoiding you. There, now can this conversation wait until I've had a bit more sleep?" she asked him exasperated.

Ronon crossed his arms across his massive chest, "No." he said to her.

At that Natalie looked at him blankly for a moment, "No? What do you mean no?" she asked crossing her arms, mirroring his stance.

"Why were you angry at me?" he asked her with a raised brow.

"A..angry?" she questioned/stuttered. "I wasn't angry," she she said her voice cracking and shaking her head at Ronon as if he was insane. "What gave you that idea?" she asked him. "I was just having an off day is all."

Ronon gave her a half smirk, "I don't believe that for one second Natalie." he told her. "Now try that again and tell me the truth this time."

Natalie glared at him, "I am telling the truth, I wasn;t angry at you damn it." she all but yelled in anger.

He chuckled at her, "really because I'm pretty sure from how you were acting earlier today that you were angry." he said and stalked towards her and backed her into the wall and braced his arms on each side of her head blocking her from escaping. "If I didn't know any better I would have to say that you were jealous." he said and leaned down close to her so that when he talked Natalie could feel his warm breath on his face.

Natalie glared at him, "I'm not jealous." she spoke quietly while trying to control her breathing, having Ronon in such a close proximity as this was making her breath erratically.

"I wasn't interested in that woman Natalie," Ronon said looking into Natalie's eyes.

"Doesn't matter to me Ronon," Natalie said trying to act indifferent about that new information but on tie inside she was jumping with joy. "I'm not your keeper. What you do with whomever you want isn't my business. I don't care what you do." she said trying to look away from his face but his intense green eyes didn't let her.

Ronon smirked at her, "Maybe I care, maybe I want you to know that I wasn't interested in that woman." he said stepping closer to Natalie so that she could feel every inch of his body that was pressed so closely to hers.

The second Natalie felt him pressed up against her she quietly whimpered hoping against hope that Ronon didn't hear that but looking into his eyes she could see the amusement, composing herself she looked away from Ronon. "Why would you Ronon?" she asked, she wanted to believe that he was interested in her but she's been disappointed too many times to just insinuate she needed to hear the exact words.

Shaking his head Ronon looked down at Natalie and smiled, "You're different then any other woman that I have ever met before, you aren't like all of the other Earth woman or the ones from this galaxy. You're fierce and protective when fighting, determined to the end and you are stubborn." he told her and paused for a moment. "You fight for what you believe in, for what you think is right even if it is a hundred against one you'd fight them and kick their asses." he said with a chuckle.

"Ronon I-" Natalie started but was interrupted.

Ronon shook his head, "Quiet. I need to say this." he stated and took a deep breath before continuing. "You Natalie, you alone understand me more then anyone else has in a long time, not since I lived on Sateda. You can tell that something bad happened to me in my past but you never pushed the issue, you let me bring it up on my own and didn't look at me with pity like everyone else, you asked me about my experience unlike most of everyone else who usually try to change the subject. You Natalie, are like no one else."

When he finished saying that Natalie looked up at Ronon, "What are you trying to say Ronon?" she asked nervously, trying to not get her hopes up.

Ronon gave her an amused smirk and cupped Natalie's face in his massive hands and leaned down towards her and kissed her with as much passion as he could muster, putting everything that he felt for her in that one kiss. Ronon just suddenly kissing her caught Natalie off guard that at first she didn't respond to him but once her brain caught up with what was happening she grabbed Ronon roughly by his neck and pulled him even closer to her. She could feel Ronon chuckle at her forcefulness but she didn't care, finally after a month or more of dropping hints, she was now kissing the man she's been fantasizing about.

Regretfully pulling away from the amazing kiss and taste of Ronon, Natalie breathed in deeply and rested her head against Ronon's chest. "So that was basically amazing." she said to Ronon her mind filter obviously on vacation.

In response to that Ronon gave an amused chuckle and wrapped his arms around Natalie's waist, his hands resting on her hips which pulled her even closer to him them before, so close that she could feel every inch of his manly goodiness that she could possibly feel without getting him naked.

"This means something right?" Natalie asked not daring to look up into Ronon's eyes. "I mean the kiss and the whole me and you sexual frustration thing that's been going on, this means something big right?" she asked wanting to get everything straight before she headed into something that she wasn't expecting, she wanted to be with him but she wasn't willing to be a fuck buddy, that's not who she is.

Ronon leaned down close to her and inhaled deeply, taking in the spicy scent that was all her own. "It means that I want you Natalie, you and you only. You are beautiful, amazing and you stand up to me. No one other then my teammates have ever dared to do that. No one has been able to catch my attention like you have." he said to her and pulled away from her a bit and lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes. "You are what I want Natalie." he stated quietly and pushed some of her hair back behind her ears.

For a few moments Natalie just stared at him, not sure if she was really awake or if she was just dreaming that all of this was happening. "Are you sure?" she asked looking at him, never before had she had someone like Ronon be attracted to her before, sure she knew she was pretty enough but she never thought that she was attractive enough to be able to snag someone like Ronon. "I know I'm not like most of everyone else here, thin as a rail and overly beautiful and I don't want you to want to be with me just because you found out that I like you more then as a friend." she told him dejectedly and looked down at the ground.

"Natalie," Ronon said as he trailed his hands up her arms to cup her face and made her look into his eyes. "You know me, I wont say something that I don't mean." he said to her in his deep voice. "I won't ever lie to you."

The two just stared at each other for a few seconds until suddenly Natalie grinned at Ronon and jumped up into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled his face up towards hers and kissed him, putting all of her happiness, excitement and passion into that one kiss. Natalie grabbed a handful of Ronon's dreads into her hands and pulled him even tighter against her mouth, at that Ronon smirked and ran his hands up and down Natalie's back and slowly inched his hands up and under her shirt needing to feel her bare skin.

"So you aren't pissed at me anymore then?" Ronon asked finally pulling away from the intense kiss and intoxicating scent that was Natalie.

Natalie laughed at that and leaned towards him and kissed him on his chin, where his beard covered his skin. "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that you're clear of having a pissed off Natalie on your hands." she said to him.

"Good." he said to her and supported her under where her legs were wrapped around him and walked over to her bed and dumped her on top of it and then he joined her on the bed and laid out on his back and stretched out as far as he could which was a few inches considering that he was six in a half feet tall.

Giggling a bit in a very girlish like action Natalie grabbed a tuft of his beard and sighed happily, "God I love this." she said and shifted onto her side and cradled her head in her hand and looked at Ronon's more then scrumptious body.

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a laugh and craned his neck back a bit to look at her.

Natalie tapped his chin, "Your beard, I love facial hair on guys it's extremely sexy." she said to him honestly, Natalie figured that since they were 'together' now that she'd be straightforward with him instead of dancing around each other like they've been doing for the last however long.

He rolled over onto her and held himself above her so that he wouldn't squish her but let her know how much he liked hearing that, if his manly area was anything to go by, he was definitely turned on by that comment.

"It is huh?" He asked her huskily and leaned down close to her and grazed his nose under her chin, along her jaw line, behind her ear and finally rubbed his nose against her's which made her give a half laugh/giggle at the feeling of his beard.

Smirking up at him Natalie ran her hands around his face, memorizing it; she traced her fingers around his lips, around his beard and mustache, over his eyes, nose, his ears and any scar that she saw on his face.

Ronon started to lean down to kiss her again but before he was able to Natalie put her fingers over his lips. "Just because we're a thing now," she said motioning with her hands between the two of them, "And you're sexy as hell and a hot piece of meat doesn't mean that I'm gonna have sex with you right away." she told him with a half joking and a half serious look.

He gave a deep laugh, "Wouldn't expect anything less from you Natalie." Ronon told her with a soft look in his eyes and leaned down and firmly kissed her, she tried to take control of the kiss but Ronon quickly won the battle of tongue's so to say.

Pulling away after about ten minutes of making out Ronon looked down at her, "I should leave and let you get to bed." he said making to get off of Natalie and the bed but she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her feet together so it would be a bit hard for him to get loose.

"Stay," she insisted looking at him with her big dark brown eyes.

He smirked cockily at her, "Thought you didn't want to have sex yet," he said looking at her with a raised brow.

Natalie rolled her eyes at that, "Ha ha Ronon." she said and playfully punched him in the chest. "You know what I meant. Just sleep here tonight, please." she begged him and stuck out her lip in a pout.

"Okay." he said and then smirked at her. "nice outfit by the way."

At that Natalie looked down at herself and groaned, she was wearing one of her long baseball style sleep shirts that ended just above her knees – it was worn in and very thin, and along with those she was wearing a pair of short shorts that would usually not be visible but with the activities that they had been doing her shirt rode up to just above her belly button.

"Shut up and sleep Ronon," she told him with a roll of her eyes and pushed him up and off of her, though if he really didn't want to move he wouldn't have moved an inch.

At first sleeping in the same bed with Ronon felt a bit awkward especially since she could feel just how much he was attracted to her, his erection quite obvious but after a few moments Natalie relaxed and turned over towards Ronon and placed her head on his shoulder, using it as a pillow and rested her arm over his chest. Ronon glanced down at Natalie who seemed to already be half asleep and smiled, he has not felt this complete and happy since Melena, the one person who was the closest thing he had to a wife. And now he is getting a second chance at happiness and love with Natalie, this time things would be different – Natalie would live.

~*~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~* ~*~ ~* ~* ~*~*~* *  
Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love

- Albert Einstein

Nat's outit for this chapter: .com/worlds_away_nats_outfit_in/set?id=23071746

A/N: Hey hope you guygs like this chapter, finally Ronon and Natalie got together. About time too don't ya think.

Like always review please i appreciate them more then you think and make me think that you people actually do like my itty bit piece of writing.

If you want give me idea's i try and do what i can and try to work some of them into this but cant promise anything.


	20. Annoying Friends

Disclaimer: As always not mine, wish it was but sadly i dont have hte money to buy it unless you count monopoly money or invisible money.

A/N: Hey its another chapter, nothing too interesting or really all that hot and heavy with Ronon and Natalie but hey at least it's a chapter. I hope you all like it.

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants

Chapter Twenty

Morning came much too soon for Natalie seeing as she was woken up at one or so in the morning but even so she still had a huge smile on her face remembering what happened the night before, her and Ronon finally admitting that they liked one and another. The high that Natalie got from just kissing Ronon was amazing, and being pressed up against him during the night and being able to feel the heat radiate from his skin and feel his scratchy beard made her smile. It was obvious from how they kissed the night before, or rather early that morning that together the two of them were going to have a very intense and physical relationship.

Getting out of bed and quickly getting dressed Natalie left her room and headed towards the closest transporter so that she could head to the level that the mess hall was on – she's always starving when she first wakes up in the morning especially after an emotional exhausting night like last night. Not to mention she did promise Lorne and Emilia that she would eat breakfast with them; Natalie's more often then not canceled on them this week so she has to eat with them today or else they'll convince Carter to make her wait even longer until she can go on missions.

"Well looky here," Lorne taunted when he saw Natalie. "Our little Flower has decided to join us for breakfast for once." he said in a highly amused tone of voice.

At that Natalie flicked him off and sat down next to Emilia as she ate her breakfast, "I can leave right now if you prefer," she said to him with a teasing smirk.

"Hey no need to be rash," Emilia said grabbing onto Natalie's arm when she pretended to get up and leave the table, she leveled Lorne with a glare. "Be nice Lorne, or else." Emilia said to him sternly.

Lorne gave her a put out expression, "I wasn't being around, I was only joking. Sometimes you girls are way too sensitive." he told them with a shake of his head.

Both Natalie and Emilia looked at each other and gave a conspiratorial smile at one and another, they were never serious about being angry at him they just enjoyed messing with him a tad bit too much. He was one of their best friends and it's in the best friend handbook that you have to joke around mess around with them once in a while.

"So," Emilia stated looking at Natalie with an overly excited smile. "Girls night tonight? Me, you, Teyla and Keller?" she asked.

"Of course," Natalie stated with a 'duh' tone in her voice. "I got the games, I got pop and I got the alcohol, though I'm not volunteering all of mine this time." she said with a narrowed look at her friend.

Emilia just laughed, "Okay, I'll tell Keller." she said rolling her eyes. "What about junk food? It wont be any fun without the junk good, we NEED junk food."

Natalie waved her friend's concern off, "Don't worry we got junk food, you have no idea what kind of convincing and magic I had to work to get some of the good stuff." she told her with a waggle of her eye brows.

Meanwhile the two were having the girls night conversation Lorne was looking between the two of them wondering how he managed to be stuck with the two craziest girls in all of Atlantis on his team; he would never change that fact. Both Natalie and Emilia were the best kind of friends a guy could ask for but he could do without all of the girl talks that seem to happen around him – the period, PMS and sex talks he could have lived without hearing.

"Why am I friends with you two if all you girls talk about is always girl stuff, I don't need to be hearing this right now." Lorne said shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.

"You have guy friends," Natalie stated and slung her arm around his shoulders. "But they don't measure up anywhere near to how awesome we are to hang out with. Which is why you always seem to suffer through the girl talks. But that's your own fault, you can always walk away from them any time you want to you know." she told him a knowing smile.

"Besides when else can you say that you get to hang around two totally gorgeous women all day long?" she asked with a slight smile as she leaned a but towards Lorne across the table with her head cocked to the side – yeah like it's not obvious that Emilia has a definite thing for Lorne.

Shaking her head at the two Natalie continued to eat her breakfast which consisted of dry cereal, an apple and some water and just listened to the conversation that her two friends were having and to what was going on around her. Natalie may talk a lot when around her friends at times but she's more comfortable being the quiet one and observing everything that is going around her.

While Natalie was in mid sentence of saying something to Lorne and Emilia she saw John and Ronon enter the mess hall and she couldn't help herself from grinning at Ronon when he looked over at where she was sitting at. Natalie mentally slapped herself, one look from Ronon and she was a grinning idiot whose only thoughts revolved around Ronon, what was she thirteen again.

"Nat, hello? Are you still in there?" Emilia asked snapping her fingers at Natalie. "What was that all about?" she asked looking at her like a impatient twelve year old waiting for the latest gossip.

Natalie shook her head and looked at Emilia and Lorne, "What was what?" she asked acting innocently but she really knew what they were talking about.

That made Emilia snort in amusement, "Really Natalie? I am not blind." she said giving her an insulted look. "What was up with the whole moment between you and Ronon?" she asked with a wide smile.

Running her hands through her hair Natalie avoided looking at Emilia, "What moment? There was no moment. It was just a simple smile at a friend." she said to them hoping that they'd buy her explanation but she doubt that they would.

"Right," Lorne scoffed at her. "Natalie there was definitely a moment, a short moment but there was a moment nonetheless." he said to her knowingly.

At that Natalie sighed heavily and watched as Ronon and John sat down across the room, "I admit it, there was a small barely there moment. But that doesn't mean that you need to freak out so much over it. God you two are like the fucking FBI or something." she said shaking her head at her two friends.

Emilia looked at Natalie and then Ronon and then Natalie again and then Ronon and then did that for a few moments before finally looking at Natalie accusingly, "You two got it on didn't ya?" she asked with a shit eating grin on her face and a waggle of her eye brows.

"EMI!" Natalie said looking around to see if anyone else heard. "I'm not telling you anything. I don't want to talk about stuff like that here even if there was something to tell, which there isn't." she said and glanced over at where John and Ronon were at and gave a soft smile at Ronon and him laughing together.

"Oh well, you'll tell me tonight." she said with a shrug and then stood up from the table. "See ya." she said and then left to go who knows where.

Once she left Natalie groaned and let her head thump against the table, "Kill me please," she begged Lorne in a defeated tone of voice.

Lorne laughed at Natalie's expense, "Come on Nat, it can't be that bad can it?" he asked her.

At that Natalie looked up at him with a glare, "Have you ever been to a girls night before with a way too inquisitive friend?" she asked him with narrowed eyes.

"No, can't say that I have before." He said trying to not laugh at her predicament.

Natalie sat back up and looked at him, "Then I wouldn't be saying anything if I were you," she said with a pout on her face. "Tonight Emi, Teyla and Keller are all going to be questioning about Ronon." she sighed. "I'm gonna die."

"What's the problem Nat?" Lorne asked looking at her curiously. "You two are together, don't try and deny it I can tell." he said when he saw Natalie opening her mouth to argue. "You like Ronon don't you? I mean you want to be with him right?" he asked.

"Yeah definitely," she said with a wide smile. "he's more then just amazing, I can't explain him in anyway that would honor him. I'm not afraid of people finding out but we just decided on being together yesterday and I would have just rather waited a little bit before we decided to let people know. I mean I don't even know if he wants to let people know that we're together or whatever. Maybe he's not a very public affections kind of guy." she said and shrugged.

Lorne looked at Natalie for a few more moments before he answered her, "Well I don't know what you really want me to say Natalie, that's between you and Ronon and not to mention I'm not the one that you should be going to for relationship advice. I am a guy after all." he said making both of them laugh. "best I can do is to tell ya to talk to Ronon about it and see what he has to say."

"Yeah I guess so," Natalie said nibbling on the core of her apple that she had grabbed.

"Well here's your chance," Lorne stated and stood up just as Ronon reached the table that the two were sitting at. "Hey Ronon," he said nodding at the much taller man. "Talk to you later Natalie." he said and with that he left the table.

Once Lorne left the vicinity Ronon sat down across from Natalie and just stared at her intently, not saying anything whatsoever and Natalie stared right back not sure if he wanted to say anything or if he just was waiting for her to say something.

The silence finally got to her though and she broke the comfortable quietness, "Hey tough guy." she said with a playful smirk.

He gave a half smile at that, "Hey," he said still staring at her.

Natalie smiled at him for a second but then she got a serious expression on her face, "So are you still you know serious about what happened last night?" she asked wanting to make sure that wasn't some messed up dream and to make sure that he didn't regret what he said and did.

In answer to that he leaned over the table towards her and kissed her quickly but forcefully before slouching back in his chair and looking at her with an accomplished look, Natalie shook her head at him acting like such a male.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes then," she said with a smirk

All Ronon did in response to that was grunt.

"You know that they are staring at us don't you," she stated with a smile and nodded towards the direction where Ronon had come from.

Both Ronon and Natalie looked over to the said table and saw that Rodney was staring at them with a slack jaw, John was giving them a wide eyed look and Teyla was smirking at them knowingly. Looking around the mess hall Natalie could see that a few other people were looking at them in the same state as John and Rodney were.

Ronon glared when he saw all of the stares, "What are you lookin' at?" he growled at them and immediately everyone went back to what they were doing.

Natalie laughed at that, "So forceful." she said with a smirk and then lowered her voice. "I like it." she said with a waggle of his eye brows.

"Glad you do, I'm like that in most aspects of my life." he told her as he traced the curve of her ear.

Smiling at him Natalie stood up from the table, "Come on lets get out of here before I feel like a science project with all of the people that are looking at us." she said rolling her eyes at how all of everyone was acting to finding out about her and Ronon.

Ronon agreed by standing up and taking Natalie's tray from her and throwing everything on it away, he then grabbed her hand and led her out of the mess hall so that they could let everyone in there gossip to their hearts content without having to worry about Natalie or Ronon over hearing and deciding to accidentally killing or injuring them. Following Ronon down the hall and away from the mess hall she wondered where it was that they were going, hopefully some place that was a good distance away from all of the gossipers.

"Where are we going?" Natalie asked looking at him after a few minutes of silence.

Ronon glanced back at her quickly, "To our spot," he told her simply as if she should have known already.

At that Natalie looked at him confused, "We have a spot?" she questioned.

"Yeah," he answered in amusement. "The pier." he told her and continued to lead her out of the city and away from where all of the activity was.

Natalie grinned as they reached the pier, 'her' pier so to say, the pier that was on the left side of Atlantis and the one that she always went to whenever she had a bad day or when she needed some alone time. Now though it was both her's and Ronon's, whe James died and after his funeral Ronon had come here to talk with her and he helped her through a difficult time. And this time, Natalie didn't mind sharing the pier with someone else.

"Just to let you know I'm going to be totally attacked tonight by three curious woman who want to know what's going on with me and you," Natalie told Ronon from her spot on the pier, she was laying down with her head resting on Ronon's leg.

He cocked and eye brow at her, "And why's that?" he asked as he rested one hand on her waist and the other supporting his weigh.

Natalie looked up at Ronon, "Like you don't know. Our kiss in the mess hall is gonna cause questions from my friend's, as much as I love them they are too curious and nosey for their own good at times." she said shaking her head. "So should I tell her about us or no? I don't want to do anything that you don't want to do yet."

"Natalie," he laughed as he moved his hands to her forehead and smoothed the worry lines there. "As if everyone doesn't already know but yeah, tell your friends whatever you want to. I want everyone to know that you're mine." he growled in her ear huskily.

Smiling at that Natalie grabbed Ronon by his dreads and lightly pulled on them, nothing too painful but hard enough so that he knew that she wanted to kiss him. He complied and lightly brushed his lips against her's which made her whine, after teasing her by kissing her lightly and never hard enough like she liked he finally gave her want he wanted.

Later that night Natalie had girls night with Emilia, Teyla and Keller; it actually went a lot less painfully than she was expecting. She was thinking that every other question was going to be about Ronon and her but thankfully it wasn't; they talked about Natalie and her new relationship with Ronon for a good fifteen or so minutes and then changed the subject to other things. Which Natalie was more than grateful for.

Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together

A/N Yay! A Chapter, review ! please it lets me know that you people like it.

And thanks to my two reviewers who review the most often

Crye 4 Me and OceanSapphire booyah you guys rock and you get homemade M&M cookies via the internet.


	21. Interrupted Make Out and Off World

Disclaimer: Do not own but i do own all original characters and names.

A/N: Okay i got distracted halfway through writing this chapter so the last half of it may seem totally crappy so tell me what you think. I hope it's good. Shrug. Anywho thanks to my reviewers i love you guys for well reviewing and telling me that my story is awesome. smooches.

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. ~Ingrid Bergman  
A kiss seals two souls for a moment in time. ~Levende Waters 

Chapter twenty-one

Natalie was innocently walking down the hall from being in a meeting with Carter and the Stargate Command via video conference for the last two hours or so explaining what her gun that she invented did and giving the pros and cons of it, she was hoping to be bale to have more made and give them to other people on Atlantis. Sadly though they vetoed that and said that it was too dangerous or something like that, Natalie got pissed at that and was about to yell and argue with them about that but Carter stopped her and quickly ended the meeting before Natalie could do something rash. But on the plus side they didn't say she couldn't use it, just the rest of Atlantis.

Walking down the hallway towards the gym to find someone to hang out with or to spar with Natalie was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled into a room, struggling to get away from whoever it was that had her she felt a very familiar pair of lips surrounded by facial hair press against the nape of her neck.

Smiling to herself Natalie quickly turned around and pushed Ronon up against the closest wall and pulled him down towards her as she leaned up on her tippy toes to kiss him, she moved away from his lips and pressed a kiss into his beard and then went lower and kissed his neck and lightly sucked on it and nibbled a bit until she reached the hollow of his neck when he sucked in a quick breath. She loved being able to turn him on so fast and with just a few nibbles and licks.

"What are you doing pulling me into random rooms like that without giving a warning?" Natalie asked finally after she pulled away from peppering him with kisses and looked up into his eyes in a sultry way.

Ronon smirked down at her and ran his hands down the side of her face until he cupped the back of her neck, "What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked her sarcastically. "I'm kissing you." he told her with an amused look.

At that Natalie smirked, "Well I wasn't sure, I thought I'd have you explain it to me before I got the wrong idea and whatnot."

"Smart ass," he stated and ran his nose along hers.

Natalie grinned at him, "Ahh you know you like it." she said teasingly.

Ronon looked down at her, "Natalie?" he questioned.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"Shut up," he said to her with an amused look at how talkative she could get at times.

Natalie rolled her eyes at him, "So demanding Ronon," she winked at him. "I think I kinda like it." she replied.

Ronon didn't even deem that with a response he just pulled her closer to him by her neck and kissed her passionately, Natalie's hands wandered up his chest and down his arms and to his waist and worked their way up his shirt feeling his tight muscles and well toned body that was nearly hard as a rock. While she was doing that Ronon memorized every curve of her body that he could touch, her well rounded hips that made her look so different then most of the other women from Earth – she wasn't shaped so much like a tree. Finally though, Ronon got sick of having to crane so far to kiss her and he lifted her up under her legs which she immediately wrapped around his waist.

Ronon soon switched their positions so that it was Natalie who was pressed up hard against the wall, instead of going for her mouth like Natalie was hoping Ronon instead kissed down her neck and up and around her ear, nibbling on her ear lobe making her give a half whimper and a half moan in response to that. Breathing heavily Natalie wrapped her legs even tighter around his waist and ground against him a but, feeling how hard he was already making her whine in frustration.

"Oh god," Natalie said as she fisted her hands into Ronon's dreadlocks, Ronon's warm breath making her feel even more intensely then she was already.

Natalie and Ronon may have only been together for a few weeks but their relationship is a very intense and passionate one, they may not have had sex yet but everything else is very passionate. The two already act as if they've been together for years instead of weeks, they know each other so well and can tell what the others mood is without even having to ask – a hard talent to come by.

Just as Ronon was about to slid his hands under the leather vest shirt that Natalie was wearing and up towards her chest the door to the abandoned room that they were in opened, immediately Ronon and Natalie both took their hands out of each others clothes and looked to see that it was John who was giving them a half amused and a half repulsed look.

"Can you two try to keep it clean when someone walks in the room," John said shaking his head at his two friends who are very much in the always together and making out stage.

Ronon smirked, "You're the one who came in here while we were already here." he told him matter of a factly.

At that John made a face at him, "Oh aren't you just the funny one today." he said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides I was meeting up with McKay and Carter here, said they have something to tell me."

Shaking her head at the two men Natalie unwrapped her legs from Ronon's waist and let herself drop to the ground onto her feet, she leveled John with a dark look annoyed at him for interrupting them she would have very much liked to have continued in the direction that her and Ronon were going.

"You know you could leave us in here and tell McKay and Carter to meet you somewhere else." Natalie suggested to him and leaned her head against Ronon's bicep.

John smirked at her, "I'll keep that in mind for next time." he said to her in amusement.

Ronon gave him a dark look, "Leave Sheppard." he growled.

Before John was able to say anything in response to that Natalie's ear comm went off, "Hey Gibson to Vance come in, Gibson to Vance come in."

Tapping her ear comm Natalie responded, "Vance here Gibson, what's going on?" she asked curiously which earned looks from the two men that were in the room with her.

"Get ready to go off world," Gibson said to her. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes. So get your ass down here." he told her.

At that Natalie got a big smile on her face not believing what she was hearing, "Seriously? I thought that I couldn't go on any missions yet until Keller or Carson gave me the said so." she said to him.

"Carter okayed it, just try to pull yourself away from the cave man and get down to the Stargate already." he told her.

"Alright I'm on my way now," Natalie said told him trying to hold in her excitement. "Vance out." she said and tapped the side of her ear comm. "Look's like I gotta go boys, I finally get to get off of this place and go have some fun."

John shook his head at her and looked over at Ronon with a smirk, "Looks like you ain't getting any tonight." he told him.

Ronon looked at him confused, "Getting any of what?" he asked confused, not used to the Earth sayings that the people in Atlantis seemed to use more often then not.

"Don't worry about it Ronon," Natalie said shaking her head, finding his confusion amusing. "I will finish what we started when I get back." she told him with hooded eyes and giving him a sultry smile.

That made Ronon smirk, "I'm counting on it. One way or another we're gonna finish it." he said to her with a deep down to business tone of voice.

At that Natalie had to reel herself in and try and not giggle, she loved it when he made his voice go deeper, it was sexy as hell and it took all of her self control to not just jump him there and tell her team that she wasn't quite ready to go off world yet. But it's been months since she's been able to go on a mission and she's not going to jeopardize that just so she can have some bedroom fun with Ronon.

"Don't do anything stupid Natalie," Ronon said to her seriously. "I mean it."

Natalie gave him a small smile, "Like I'd ever do that, its me we're talking about Ronon." she said to him and pressed a light kiss to his lips to try and soothe his worry.

He cocked an eye brow at that comment, "Exactly Natalie, I've heard about what you've done on a few of your missions." he said to her with a look.

"Yeah me, Lorne and Emilia have been filling Ronon in on some of your early escapade's and on some of your more...amusing missions," John said looking at her with a big grin on his face.

Hearing that Natalie groaned, she could have done without Ronon finding about her first few missions. There may have been a few times over the years that she possibly jumped the gun a bit and acted before thinking, which is why Lorne is the one who is in charge most of the time. She's not as bad as she was when she first came to Atlantis and if she has to she can be the leader but she'd prefer to be the fighter of the group.

"I'd never-" Natalie started but was cut off by Ronon.

"Natalie," he said looking into her eyes seriously, "Promise not to do anything stupid."

Natalie sighed, "I won't promise that I won't do something stupid since I don't know if I'll be able to keep that promise but I will promise that I'll do my best to keep out of trouble." she told him honestly.

Looking at her intently for a few moments Ronon realized that her promising to stay out of trouble was the best he was going to get so he accepted that with a nod, "Fine. Try not to be an idiot." he said and quickly pulled her to him and kissed her hard.

After a few moments of kissing like that a cough broke the two of their moment, "As much as I enjoy watching you two make out I think Natalie has to get going." John said giving Natalie a pointed look.

Quickly kissing Ronon one last time Natalie left the room and made her way down to the Stargate room so that she, Lorne, Emilia and the newest member of her team Gibson could go off world. The first mission that she has been allowed on since she was injured by Altozia.

~*~*~*~*~*~ Off World ~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you even supposed to be carrying that gun?" Lorne asked looking at Natalie as he, Emilia, Gibson and Natalie exited the gate and onto the planet that they were sent to.

Natalie glanced down at her gun and then back up at Lorne with a smirk, "Well the IOA only said that I couldn't make more and distribute them to other people on Atlantis they never said anything about not letting me use it anymore. Besides I designed it, it's not like they can tell me no to my own invention." she told him with a shrug. "They need to be more specific if they don't want me to use it."

Lorne chuckled a bit and shook his head at Natalie, "Quite the rebel aren't you," he said to her playfully. "You're gonna give Ronon a lot of trouble."

"Make's the relationship more exciting that way." Natalie said with a grin and then turned away from him and began to scan their surroundings, see if there was anything out of place or suspicious.

"Plus Ronon will probably see her trouble making tendencies as foreplay," Emilia pipped in from behind the two.

Walking further into the planet and farther away from the Stargate the four headed towards where Emilia's scanner was picking up the life signs, they may have been sent to this planet to help the people here but after what happened to Emilia, Lorne and Natalie they were keeping their guard up they've learned to be more aware of their surroundings – they'd rather be extra cautious then be dead.

"Don't come any closer!" A voice suddenly rang out through the group of trees that they were about to walk through.

A group of five people came out of the trees, three of whom were woman. The one who spoke seemed to be a woman in her late-thirties to early-forties and she had a gun in her hand raised at them ready to shoot at any sudden movement.

Emilia was the one who broke the tense silence, "We aren't here to harm you," she said to the woman soothingly. "We're explorers and only wish to make an alliance and trade opportunities with other people of this galaxy." she told them trying to prove to them that they didn't mean them or their people any harm.

The woman's gaze softened and she partly lowered her gun in a defeated way, "Our people are deathly ill, making alliances with us would be anything but smart. We all will be dead before you are able to take advantage of trading with us." she said to them with a heavy sigh.

"We know," Natalie said gaining the older woman's attention. "That's why we're here. We are from Atlantis and we were told by some alliance's of ours that you're people were terribly sick and that no one has been able to find a cure of it." she told her. "We have advanced medical equipment that may be able to help you fight off whatever sickness it is that your people have." she told her and motioned to the backpack that she had slung over her shoulder.

One of the men looked at them suspiciously, "Which people told you that we were sick, we have few allies." he stated and looked at Natalie with narrowed eyes, zeroing in on her massive knife and gun.

"We are friend's with the people of Athos," Lorne answered looking at them in what he hoped was a friendly way.

"We only want to help you," Gibson spoke up.

For a few moments the woman leader just stared at Lorne, Emilia, Natalie and Gibson as if studying them and seeing if they were trustworthy enough, she then turned to her people and nodded before turning back. "You may come with us. I am Letha, the boy is Haddeus and his older brother Lonnie, this is my daughter Lemra and her husband Zarek." she said introducing all of them.

Lorne nodded at her, "Thank you." he told her sincerely. "I am Evan Lorne, these are my teammates Emilia DeLuca, Natalie Vance and Sacha Gibson." he said introducing everyone.

Letha nodded, "It is an honor to meet the people of Atlantis, please follow us." she said and went through the trees to reach the village where all of the ill people were at.

Walking into their village it was obvious to see that more then half of the people were terribly sick, the few that were out of their homes and walking around in the village looked ragged and worn, as if something had taken their will to live. The few vendors that were set up around the village were doing even worse then most of the people, they dealt with customers all day and thus were exposed to the sickness even longer then everyone else was. If they didn't get some intense medical attention soon there would be no going back, they all would die from this and their people would slowly die off.

"The more serious the illness, the more important it is for you to fight back, mobilizing all your resources-spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical."

Norman Cousins 

"Without fear and illness, I could never have accomplished all I have."

Edvard Munch 

A/N: Hope you liked this, tell me what you think. Give me idea's if you want. I love reviews and give you internet goodness treats if you review.


	22. Sennik

Discalimer: Not mine at all sadly, all original characters are in fact mine  
A/N: sorry i ahvent updated in forever i've been distracted. My friend wanted ot die becuae she and her byofrined broke up but now things are okay and they are back together thank god and not to mention i met a guy and have been talking ot him non stop so yeah. Hope you like the next chapter

-Life isn't fair, you learn toi get over it or learn to suffer a long life filled wiht pain and suffering

Chapter twenty-two

"Are you certain that this medicine will work?" Letha stated looking at Natalie who was injecting a needle in her skin so that she could give her some of the medicine that they had brought with to help the village people get over the sickness, or at least try to.

Natalie paused in what she was doing and looked up at Letha, "I'm not going to lie to you and say that you and the rest of your people are going to get over this and not lose anyone else but that wouldn't be true." she told her with a sympathetic look and took out the needle. "Our medicine may be advanced but it still has faults, people don't always survive even with the best medicine in the world but this medicine will make it easier for people's immune systems to fight against whatever this illness is and to protect the people who don't have it. I'll do what I can for the gravely ill but the best I will be able to do for them is make them comfortable and feel less pain."

Letha looked at Natalie in a gracious way, "I know Natalie, and thank you for at least trying to help the people of Yagassi. It is more then I can say other people have done in the past for us, our only true allies are the Athosian's."

Natalie gave her a small smile, "My people and I will do all that we can to help you guys." she told her and put some of her medicine stuff away in the backpack. "How many people did your village originally start out with?"

"We had close to two hundred people residing here but now, after the sickness took it's toll on the village we have barely a hundred people now." Letha told her with a downcast expression on her face. "We have lost many, many people. Adults and children alike, no one is spared."

Just as Natalie was about to respond to that her ear comm went off, "Vance talk to me," Lorne said into the radio.

Natalie walked a bit away from Letha so that she could talk to Lorne in semi-private, "What's up Lorne?" she questioned.

"Talked to Carter," Lorne told her. "She wants to know how long you think that this is going to take and if she should send help and when she should be expecting us back on Atlantis." he told her.

Sighing Natalie ran her hands through her braided hair, "I have no idea right now Lorne. I've barely seen anyone yet and there are a lot of people here in the village." she said to him. "I..I guess tell her that we'll radio her tomorrow and let her more then after I've seen some of the people and seen the different stages that this illness has taken on some of the people."

"Okay," Lorne said with a resigned sigh. "Lorne out."

Letha stood up and looked at Natalie, "Thank you for giving me the medicine but at the moment I have many other things that I must attend to. I will leave the care of my people in your hands." she said simply and then left.

Grabbing the heavy backpack with the medical supplies Natalie left Letha's home and soon began to make her way around the village stopping at people's houses and at the vendors so that they could get the medicine even though they were working. The one's that got to Natalie the most were the very young children who reminded her way too much of her niece's and the elderly who looked so frail as it was. Hopefully the combination of antibiotic medicine would help them fight off the sickness.

For a most of the day Natalie went around town trying to see as many people as she possibly could but eventually Letha came to look for Natalie and forced her to go back and join the rest of her team and to get some rest.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~ Morning ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~

"Natalie, Natalie wake up!"

Hearing an annoying voice wake her up from her sleep Natalie covered her head with her arms hoping to block out the sound and rolled over hoping that whoever was trying to wake her up would get the point.

"Natalie Rose Vance wake up right the fuck now!" a very commanding and feminine voice said.

Rolling over Natalie looked into Emilia's serious face which made her wake up even more so and sit up wondering what happened while she was sleeping, "What's going on? Did something happen?" she asked seriously.

Emilia sighed when Natalie said that, "Letha's granddaughter apparently is showing serious signs of having the sickness. They are asking for you."

"Okay just let me grab my bag," Natalie told her and quickly got off of her makeshift bed and pulled her jacket on and put her weapons belt back on and grabbed the medical bag that Keller packed for her and quickly followed Emilia out of the hut/house that the team was using to sleep in.

Walking into the home of Letha's daughter and her daughter's family Natalie could immediately sense the tense atmosphere that was surrounding everyone; Letha was standing near one of the windows with her arms crossed with a blank expression on her face, Lemra and her husband Zarek were on the couch huddled together obviously worried about their sick daughter.

"Natalie!" Lemra said when she spotted Natalie and Emilia. "Thank you for coming, I know you have many, many other people to see but thank you for coming to see my daughter."

Natalie waved off her comment, "No worries, most of the people I had to see today are the older type, children come first in my book." she told them with a what she hoped was a supportive smile.

"Do you think she will be okay?" Zarek asked.

At that Natalie sighed heavily, "I don't know, I have to take a look at her first before I am able to tell how sick she is and what the likelihood of her survival is." she told him honestly, she won't lie to him about what she thought it hurts more in the end to have false hope then to be realistic.

"Come," Lemra said walking over to Natalie. "I will show you her room." she said and walked towards the back of the home with heavy shoulders, showing how much the stress of everything was getting to her.

They walked past a few rooms and then finally stopped at one that was slightly ajar, Lemra gently knocked on the door before opening it further and walking inside. What Natalie saw when she walked inside made her take a sharp breath, a small girl who reminded Natalie way too much of her niece's lay in abed looking sicker then ever. Her brown/blonde hair was limp around her shoulders, she looked unbelievably pale and her skin was very clammy and sweaty looking.

"Love," Lemra stated as she knelt besides her daughters bed and took her clammy hand in hers. "I brought someone here who can help you, she's going to do her best to make you right again. I will be in shouting distance if you need me." she said and leaned over to kiss her daughters forehead and quickly left the room.

Natalie smiled at the girl and dropped the medical bag to the floor, "Can I sit?" she asked with a smile trying to ease the worry or fear that the little girl may have.

The girl nodded and just stared at Natalie as she took a seat on the edge of the girls bed, after a few moments the girl finally spoke. "Are you a healer?" She asked as she looked pointedly at Natalie's weapons belt.

"My aren't you perceptive," Natalie said with a slight laugh. "But no, not exactly. I'm a fighter but I've been trained in a bit of healing so that I can help my friends when we get hurt." she answered her. "I'm Natalie. What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Sennik but everyone call's me Senni." she replied to her.

Taking a few things out of her bag Natalie held them in her lap as she continued to talk to the little girl, "That's a beautiful name Sennik, how old are you?"

"I'm eight." Sennik said as proudly as she could for being sick.

"I have two niece's, one whose seven and the other who is five. You remind me of them very much." Natalie told her.

Sennik looked up at Natalie curiously, "You miss them?" she asked.

"Yes," Natalie answered. "very much." she told her.

"What are you going to do with those things?" Sennik asked pointing at the needles and small bottles of medicine that were in Natalie's lap.

Picking up the small medicine bottle in her hand Natalie showed it to Sennik, "This is the stuff that is supposed to help you get better and help you fight off of the sickness. This is what I've been giving everyone so that they'll be able to fight against this sickness better." she explained.

Sennik looked at Natalie nervously, "is it going to hurt a lot?" she asked quietly.

"It wont hurt a lot but it wont feel like falling on the ground either, it's like a really hard pinch on the inside of your arm. Does that make sense?" she asked her as she filled up the syringe with the medicine.

Sennik nodded, "Okay." she said nervously.

Natalie smiled at her, "Usually when I'm in pain or afraid of something I try and pretend that I'm somewhere else and someone else, like I pretend I'm some kind of Royalty at a fancy dinner or something like that. Or pretend that I'm a princess of some kind." she said which made Sennik giggle.

"You're funny."

"I try," Natalie said to her jokingly. "Okay honey you are gonna feel a small poke but I promise it wont last more then a few moments." she said as she cleaned a spot in the crease of her arm.

"Okay," Sennik said quietly and scrunched her eyes shut.

With that Natalie quickly poked through Sennik's skin and injected the medicine into her blood stream hoping that it would help her fight off the sickness and to help strengthen her immune system, along with injecting her with medicine Natalie gave her a few pills for the pain that she was obviously feeling and to make the fever she had to away faster. For as small and young as Sennik was Natalie could tell she was a fighter, for as long as she has been exposed to the illness it sure took a long while for it to take a hold on her body.

Once Natalie had finished giving Sennik all of the medicine that she had dared to give her she left her room and headed out back to the main room of the home where her parents and grandmother was waiting for her at. When Zarek, Lemra's husband noticed Natalie coming into the living room he immediately stood up and went towards Natalie wanting to know news on his daughter.

"How is she doing? Is she okay?" Zarek asked looking at Natalie expectantly.

Natalie took a deep breath before she said anything, "I gave her some medicine that would knock her out and try and take her fever down while some other medicine I gave her would help her heal from the disease." she told them.

"She is not in pain?" Lemra asked not wishing her daughter to be in pain whatsoever if she could help it.

"No," Natalie said shaking her head, "There is a small bit of pain but nothing that is not manageable. "Sennik is a very brave girl and is doing much better then some of the other villagers that I have seen so far. It took her a while to show signs of being sick so I am confident that she will be able to beat this. But its still better to be safe then sorry, so we are going to keep her on a routine of medicine's for a few days."

Lemra gave Natalie a thankful look, "Thank you Natalie, thank you very much for all that oyu have done for my daughter and for the people of Yagasi." she told her seriously.

Natalie waved off her thanks, "No worries Lemra, it was what any decent person would do." she told her as she shouldered her backpack with all of the medicine in it. "Besides we came to help you and your people." she told them simply.

"I know that, but still, thank you Natalie and thank you to your people." Zarek said to her.

After that Natalie started to go around the village and give people medicine and trying to cure them of the illness that they've got, it was a long and tiring process but thankfully Gibson had some medical training so he could help her while she did that. The faster that they could get the medicine out to the people the more likely that it would be that they would survive and beat the sickness that has over taken their bodies, the elders and young children needed it the most seeing as they were the most vulnerable because if their weak immune systems.

Leaving one of the elder people's huts Natalie tapped the side of her ear comm, "Lorne come in, it's Vance." she said and wiped at her eyes tiredly.

"Lorne here Nat, what's up?" he asked.

"We're going to be here for a few more days," Natalie said to him with a sigh. "I know this is being longer than expected but I want to be sure these people are mostly healthy before we leave back for Atlantis."

On the other side of the radio Natalie could hear Lorne sigh, "I figured you would say that, I'll contact Carter and tell her what the hold up is."

"Good, tell her we shouldn't be more than a few more days." Natalie said figuring healing time of the people in her head and guessing that it shouldn't be more than three or so days until people start showing improvement in health.

"I will, you on the other hand come back to the hut and get some sleep, I know you barely had more than a few hours of sleep last night and got up extra early today so that you could work on more of the villagers." Lorne said to her seriously. "You won't be any use to these people if you pass out from exhaustion."

Natalie shook her head when she heard Lorne say that, "A few more people and then I promise I will come back and sleep for a while." she told him.

Lorne laughed at that, "I know you Nat, you won't. That's why I'm going to come and get you in forty-five minutes if you aren't back at the hut by then." he said to her seriously and radioed out.

-There's nothing to fear but hte big ass homicidal bear right behind you

A/N: hope you all liked it, and remember reviews equeal love. just to let yo uall kjnow if this chapter totally sucked it's cuz I'm half drunk at the moment.


	23. Home again

Disclaimer: Not mine sadly so wish it was true and that they were and that i could jump into Stargate Atlantis world but sadly it ain't.

A/N: Love you reviewers please keep 'em coming i love all of you guys.

"There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love."

Susie Switzer 

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Mahatma Gandhi 

Chapter twenty-three

A few days later just as Natalie said and the villagers were now doing much better then when she and her team had first arrived, they weren't fully healed up per se but they were most definitely over the worst part of the sickness and should be progressing from then on. And now it was time for Natalie, Lorne, Emilia and Gibson to head back to Atlantis, they've been gone for almost five days it's time to go home. Not to mention Natalie knew that Ronon was probably being very angsty and antsy ready for her to get back to Atlantis, especially with how she left him all hot and bothered.

"Thank you Natalie, for all that you have done for us." Letha said to her and bowed and then looked at the rest of her team. "Thank you to all of you for what you have done for us. The Yagasi will be forever grateful for what you have done and sacrificed to help us."

Lorne nodded, "We did what any other decent person would have done." he said to her.

Letha smiled at that, "Even so, I wish to give you these gifts in gratitude for all that you have done for myself and my people." she told them and gestured behind her where some of her village people were standing, her daughter and her daughters family being some of the few.

Just as she finished saying that three villagers came up to them and handed over some of their food; odd looking vegetables and fruit, as well as some weapons that they could learn from which Natalie was especially excited to take a look at. "These are for you, people of Atlantis. We hope that they will be of help to yours."

"I'm sure that they will," Lorne said taking a bag or two from one of the men that was offering out the stuff to them. "You didn't need to give us any of this in return for what we did, we were more then happy to do it but thank you nonetheless." he told Letha and her people.

Sennik shyly walked away from her parents and past her grandmother and over to Natalie and tugged on the edge of her shirt to make her crouch down besides her, "Natalie?" Sennik questioned quietly.

"Yes Sennik?" Natalie replied looking at Sennik sweetly.

"Um I have something for you," she said and handed her a wrapped leather package. "I made them, me and mom and Grandmother. I wanted to make something for you before you left." she said and waited in anticipation as Natalie opened the gift.

Opening up the leather bound package Natalie's eyes watered when she saw what Sennik had made for her, there laying in the wrapping were three handmade dolls with the same style of clothes as the people of Yagasi. One was wearing a light olive colored dress, another a pink/purple colored one and the last one was wearing a burnt orange colored one.

"I thought you could give two of them to your nieces back home and that you could keep the one that you like the most," Sennik said not looking Natalie in the face.

"Ooh Sennik," Natalie said with a unbelievable smile on her face.

Sennik worked up the courage to look Natalie in the face, "Do you like them?" she asked hopefully.

Natalie nodded at her and quickly pulled the young girl into her embrace and gave her a tight hug before letting her go and re-wrapping the dolls back up, "Thank you Sennik, these mean the world to me. And I am sure that my niece's will love them just as much as I do. Thank you, for making these."

Sennik smiled at her, "Will you come back?" she asked.

Natalie smirked, "Soon as I can, I have a job to do but when I have the time I will come and visit you Sennik." she told her and patted the girls head once before she tucked the dolls into her pack safely and then motioned to her team that it was time to go.

With one last look at the people of Yagasi, Lorne, Emilia, Natalie and Gibson left and started to make their way back towards the Stargate so that they could dial back to Atlantis – Home.

~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~** Atlantis ~*~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~**~*~ ~*~**

"Was everyone healin' up all right when ye left?" Carson asked Natalie, the last of whom came by the infirmary to drop off the medical bag that they had gave her to use while she was on Yagasi.

Natalie nodded at the Scottish doctor, "Yeah everything seemed to be going smoothly, everyone was getting better as each day passed. Thank god." she said with a relieved sigh, she couldn't bear to see another person die of the sickness. "I took some blood samples for you, I figured you would want to study them and the sickness that they had and try to make a cure/medicine for it in case we encounter it again." she said as she handed him the medical bag.

Carson set the medical bag on the cart that was next to him, "Thank ye lass, I can't wait to get me hands on those samples." he told her with a smile. "Now hop on off that bed, you are healthy as a horse." he told her with a joking smile.

At that Natalie laughed and did as he said, "You and your people should probably go off world and check of them in a week or so to be sure that they don't have any after effects from the sickness and to be sure that they are healing up alright." she told him offhandedly.

"Will do Natalie, now you go on your way and find Ronon. He has been in an absolutely dreadful mood since you left." he said with a half shake of his head and a half smirk on his face.

Sighing Natalie looked at Carson, "Please tell me he hasn't been that bad." she said with a groan while running her hands through her braided hair.

Carson shrugged, "No more then he is on most accounts." he said to her with a small laugh.

Natalie shook her head at that, "Does he know that we're finally back or not?" she asked him curiously.

"Ahh lass I would imagine not," Carson said to her. "He went to the mainland with Teyla and John for a bit. They had only gotten back a while before yerselves did." he replied.

That made Natalie smirk, "Okay that's good. I'll see you later Carson. I'm gonna go surprise a certain Satedan." she said as she left the infirmary with a waggle of her eyebrows which made Carson shake his head at her in amusement.

Once out of the infirmary Natalie began to make her way to finding Ronon seeing as he had no idea that she and the rest of her team was back yet; the first place that she looked for him at was his room but after he didn't answer after about five or so minutes she decided that he most likely wasn't there at the moment. After that she checked the pier, her prier – now dubbed their pier but he wasn't there either, so then she checked the weapons bay and then the mess hall but no sign of him in any of those places.

After looking for Ronon for a solid twenty-five minutes Natalie finally realized where he would be at the moment – the Gym. The most obvious place for him to want to go when he was bored, wanted to get away from everyone or when he was pissed off, which Natalie has seen him pissed before and when he was angry fighting and damn was it hot. Sometimes she thought that she should piss him off on purpose just so she could see how uber hot he was up close and angry.

Taking a transporter down to the level that the Gym was at Natalie quietly walked into the Gym and saw that Ronon was sparring with John, who at the moment was getting his ass kicked quite badly by Ronon. It wasn't that John couldn't fight, he could but he just wasn't as skilled in fighting as Ronon is – there are very few people who could hold their own against him, Teyla being one of them.

"Are you trying to kill me on purpose?" John asked as he landed on his back once again from a well aimed hit from Ronon.

Ronon smirked at him, "I thought I was going easy on you." he told him and helped him off of the floor and nearly throwing him into the air.

Natalie clapped, gaining the attention of the two males. "Nice fighting John, though just a thought I think you are supposed to not get hit by the fighting staff's." she said to him with a playful smirk.

"Have you fought the big guy before," John asked gesturing to Ronon who was staring intently at Natalie, his bedroom eyes coming out and eying her up and down which made her shiver in delight.

Peeling her eyes away from Ronon, Natalie looked at John. "Sadly no, I haven't had the chance to fight him yet. No one would let me, you know with being injured and all." she told him with a look.

"When'd you get back?" Ronon asked her gruffly.

"Oh, about an hour or so ago." Natalie told him with a smirk, right then he looked like a predator and she would love to be his prey at the moment, his eyes telling her everything that he wanted to do to her now that she was back.

John looked between the two and then sighed, "Everything go good then?" he asked hoping to distract the two from raping each other with their eyes.

Natalie nodded her head, "Yeah. I helped and healed the people that I could and made it less painful for the ones who were already too far gone." she said with a downcast smile, sad that she wasn't able to help everyone get over the sickness but at least she tried her hardest to do what she could for them and that was what counted most.

"You did what you could for them Nat, and showed them that there are people out there who are willing to help complete strangers." John told her consolingly. "Not everyone can be saved from things like that."

"I know." she said with a shrug and then looked between Ronon and John. "So you two enjoying kicking each others asses?" she asked with a raised brow.

Ronon glanced at John before turning back to Natalie, "I doubt John is enjoying himself. He;s on the ground more then up and fighting." he said to her.

John looked at the two of them, "Hey now, no need to insult me here." he said.

Shaking her head Natalie walked over to john and grabbed the wooden practice sword from him and thumped it against the ground a few times before looking up at Ronon with a smirk on her face, "So you wanna take me up on the chance to spar yet or are you still scared that you'll get beaten by a girl?" she asked him playfully.

"Oh you don't scare me little one," Ronon said as he advanced on her and looked down into her eyes with a dark desire. "besides you aren't going to be able to beat me."

Natalie cocked an eye brow, "Are you sure?" she asked him with hands on her hips, one still gripping the wooden sword.

"I've seen your fighting style well enough to know that you're good, more then good but you still won't be able to beat me." Ronon told her with a grin on his face.

John shook his head at the two, "Come on Nat, do you seriously believe that you'll be able to beat Chewie here? If you fight him you'll just end up back in the infirmary and then Keller and Carson are definitely going to kill us all."

Hearing him say that Natalie took on an offended look, "I can fight just fine John." she said and turned to look at Ronon. "And plus, you've only seen me fight when I was injured so that's nothing to go by."

Seeing her determined look Ronon sighed, "If I injure you because of this you can't get pissed off at me, I warned you and you are the one who is insisting on fighting." he told her with a serious look.

Natalie smiled widely when she realized that she was going to get her way, "I won't, scouts honor." she said and gave him the hand signal of the girl scouts which Ronon just looked at her weirdly for. "Never mind, Earth thing." Natalie said shaking her head. "I won't, don't worry."

Ronon nodded at her, "Alright, Let's fight." he said with a smirk on his face and raised the wooden sword.

"The hardest battle you're ever going to fight is the battle to be just you."

Leo F. Buscaglia 

"To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting."

E. E. Cummings 

A/N: as always please review, review's get kisses and hugs and splendiferic awesomeness of life. So please review


	24. The fight and Teasing Ronon

Disclaimer: Not mine no matter how much we all wish it was

A/N: Youguys better have liked this, it took me a while to get it down. Review's are always nice to get and very much appreciated. Thank you lovely.

A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.  
Gilbert K. Chesterton

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.  
Edmund Hillary

Chapter twenty-four

Standing away from each other and blocking out everything that was going around them and just concentrating on one and another Natalie and Ronon eyed each other, waiting to see if one or the other would act first, to get a feel for each others stances and to see where the weak points in each other were.

From behind her Natalie could hear John say something into his ear comm but she ignored it and concentrated on keeping her eyes on Ronon and the two continued on circling one and another.

"You sure you wanna do this Natalie?" Ronon asked her with a raised brow.

Natalie smirked at him, "You sure you can handle me Ronon, I'm quite the hellion remember," she said to him with a waggle of her eyebrows.

He laughed deeply at that, "I think I can more then just handle you." Ronon said looking down at her with a predatory smile on his face.

That made Natalie smirk but before she was able to reply to that Ronon made the first move in their sparring session, he quickly jumped at her and swung his wooded sword downwards to make a hit on Natalie's arm but she swung her own sword upwards and blocked the attack on her. She aimed for his lower legs, just below the knees but he knocked her sword away from his body and then aimed for her head.

Natalie ducked before it made contact with her head and made to take a jab at his ribs but he moved out of the way and brought his sword hard up towards Natalie's midsection but she crouched down and rolled out of his reach and stood back up, her wooden sword in hand out stretched towards him challengingly. Ronon looked at her and cocked his head to the side realizing that what bit he's seen of Natalie's fighting was just a taste of what she was like when fully healed, now that she had no cast on and didn't have to be careful of her injuries she was more flexible and agile.

Swinging the wooden sword towards Natalie's arms in hope of making her drop it Ronon smirked but he soon frowned when Natalie turned slightly and blocked his attack, he made to hit the other but Natalie ducked and brought her sword up to hit his with a resounding clacking sound.

With a quick move of her wrists Natalie quickly flipped the sword in her hands and hit the hilt of the sword hard against Ronon's chest and jumped away from him before he could retaliate on her. He looked up at her surprised.

Natalie shrugged at him when he looked at her, "You never said anything about going easy on you." she said to him playfully.

He shook his head at her and then brought his sword up and started to give it his all – fighting his girlfriend Natalie with all that he had or at least half of what he had. He'd end up killing her if he fought her with everything he had.

Not paying attention Natalie ended up getting hit in the shin by Ronon, Natalie grunted in pain but made no other outward show of being hit. After that she attacked Ronon again, for a while the two ended up getting good hits on one and another but both refused to give up and admit defeat.

Breathing hard Natalie swung her wooden sword hard at Ronon but his collided with her, they were now only inches from one and another neither giving the other room to get away without getting a hit in. Looking at Ronon Natalie head butted him hard, catching him off guard and then she flipped away from him and landed in a crouch a few feet away from him waiting for him to attack her again.

Ronon gave Natalie an unbelieving look and then smirked at her, he ran over to where she was crouched at swung his sword down at her and quickly Natalie stood up and brought her sword up towards his in a defensive manner. Ronon started to swing his wooden sword at her left and right giving her no break to try and get a hit in like he was, he was slowly backing her up and into one of the walls but before he was able to press her up against it Natalie pushed her sword against him with all her might.

That move resulted in both of them falling onto the ground, Ronon on his back and Natalie laying besides him on her stomach her sword only a few feet away from her. Before Natalie was able to roll away from Ronon and stand up he suddenly grabbed her around the waist and flipped her onto her back and straddled her, effectively pinning her arms above her head.

Ronon smirked down at Natalie and raised an eye brow at her and she smiled back at him and was about to say something when John interrupted the moment, "As fun as it is to watch you two basically take each others clothes off with your eyes I don't think any of us want a free show." he said gaining the attention of the two fighters who now realized that there were quite a few people in the gym.

Standing up Ronon helped Natalie back onto her feet and then scowled at all of the people that were standing around the gym, "Leave." he growled at them with narrowed eyes.

Quickly before they were injured by the massive Satedan everyone left the gym leaving only John, Ronon and Natalie. John looked at the two and grinned widely, "Well you two seemed to have had fun fighting. Though, Nat, that was a bit of unfair fighting head butting the big guy here and what not."

"If it was a life or death situation they wouldn't have played fair either," Natalie said to him with a shrug. "Besides," she said looking up at Ronon. "It's more fun to fight dirty."

Ronon smirked at her, "I don't mind if you get me dirty," he said to her lowly.

At that comment John made a grossed out noise, "Alright you two no need to get all sexed up here in the gym, why don't you guys go find somewhere private to be like that so I don;t have to get grossed out. Hmm?" he asked them almost pleadingly.

Natalie grinned when he said that and sauntered towards Ronon, "Well big guy, what'd you say. Just me and you time for a while eh?" she asked and pulled herself hard against Ronon with her leg hiked up against his outer leg, she could feel Ronon's quite obvious erection against her stomach – she knew fighting her would get him off.

Grabbing her around her hips Ronon pulled Natalie even further into him, so she could almost feel every crevice of his body, very hard muscle, everything that she could possibly want, he was leaning down towards her but before he was able to kiss her a loud and very obvious cough interrupted them.

"Guys," John whined. "Come on, take it somewhere else will ya."

Letting go of Ronon, Natalie shook her head at John. "Talk at you later John." she said to him with a wave and grabbed Ronon's hand and basically dragged him out of the gym so that they could go off and do their own thing without having to hear their friends complain at them.

Natalie was about to go to either the mess hall or out to the pier where she usually went to think but instead Ronon dragged her down a hallway and then after walking for a good solid ten minutes or so he stopped suddenly in front of a door. Waving his hand over the sensor to the side of the door Ronon walked in, pulling Natalie right behind him – it was one of the few balcony rooms that they had in Atlantis and the view, the view was amazingly beautiful.

"Ronon," Natalie practically whispered. "This view is amazing, especially with how the sun's are going down now. It's ethereal." she told him.

He looked down at her with a soft look in his eyes and stood behind Natalie who was looking out at the view, his arms resting on the railing on either side of hers. "I found this place a few days after I came to Atlantis, it's the place I always go to get away from everything that I don't want to deal with or see for a while. Somewhere that I can be alone." he told her and looked out at the ocean that surrounded them.

"It's like your version of my pier, the one place where you can be at peace for a while and not have anyone or anything to worry about even if it is for only a little while." Natalie said looking up at him in understanding and then leaned back against his chest.

Ronon looked down at Natalie and grabbed her around her waist and turned her around, before she was able to protest he swooped down and captured her full lips in a searing and very heated kiss. Natalie smiled into the kiss and pulled his face closer to her by his dread locks – she's always had a thing for guys with long hair and Ronon's dreadlocks just made her fall even harder. Natalie nibbled on Ronon's lower lip eliciting a groan from him which made her smirk into the kiss, she pulled back and looked at him innocently.

"You like that?" she asked him batting her eye lashes at him.

He smirked at her and pulled her flush against him, "You know I more then liked that, you didn't tell me you were a biter." he said to her.

Natalie smirked, "Can't make it easy on you. Gotta let you learn as you go." she said to him teasingly.

"Hmm, learning you say?" He asked cocking his head to the side and nuzzling Natalie's neck a bit laying small kisses along it. "I'd like to teach you quite a few things."

That made Natalie let out a loud content filled sigh, finally she pulled away from Ronon and stepped a few feet from him. "I would be more then willing to be your student but first, lets walk me to my room. It's been a long few days." she said to him.

Smiling ot himself Ronon began to led the way to Natalie's room, he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have found someone like Natalie who was actually willing to put up with him and wouldn't back down from him when he was angry and was in an arguing mood. Natalie was breathtaking, amazing, beautiful, sensuous and everything in between. A lot of the people on Atlantis may not think so seeing as she was very curvy but he liked them a bit on the bigger boned side, he doesn't have to be afraid of hurting her or bruising her that way.

They finally stopped at Natalie's room, she stood barely in front of her door and looked at Ronon through hooded eyes. "I'll be seeing you." she said to him.

"Or you could just see me all of tonight, all of me." he said ot her with a smirk.

Natalie smiled at that and grabbed at Ronon's shirt and pulled him a bit closer to her, she ran her hands up and down his chest and inhaled his scent along his chest and up his neck. It took Ronon only a few seconds to realize that Natalie's hands had managed to wander down his chest and to his pants, before he could grab her hands though and stop them in their tracks his manhood was cupped in Natalie's hands through his pants. He groaned loudly and leaned his head back, trying to control his breathing but Natalie rubbing him through his pants every so often was not working.

"Hmm, I think sometime I would very much like to see all of you Ronon, in all of your Satedan glory." she said and leaned up to kiss him. "But tonight, is not that night."

before he could comprehend what was going on Natalie's door was shutting and she was no where to be found, Ronon growled loudly and lightly hit the door of her room. "You little one are going to pay for that." he hissed.

Natalie giggled, "Oh that's what I'm counting on big boy, I am so counting on that."

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.  
Sydney J. Harris

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity."

Epicurus

A/N: Hope you guys liked this chapter, iwas gonna give you some lemony goodness but decided agaisnt it. So i'm teasing you and making you wait a while longer.


	25. Birthday!

Disclaimer: As always not mine

A/N: Hope you like this chapter review please!

Chapter twenty-five

A week or so after the sparring match and it was Natalie's twenty-fifth birthday and she couldn't help but wake up with a giant smile on her face, at times she wished that she could be back on Earth spending it with her family but at the same time she didn't want to but that was mostly because she had Ronon to spend it with this time and she planned on making today special not just for her but for Ronon too.

"What are you planning?" John asked as he came up to Natalie who was making her way to the mess hall to get some breakfast.

Natalie looked at him with a raised brow, "What no happy birthday Natalie?" she asked him with a fake insulted look on her face.

He rolled his eyes at her, "Happy birthday Natalie," he said to her sincerely and then raised his won brow at her. "Now tell me, what are you planning. I know that face, that is the evil planning face and whenever you have that face on you end up in trouble. So whats going on?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she replied innocently.

At hat John laughed, "Yeah, right. Don't believe you for one second. I know you too well. Lets try this again," he said and paused for a moment. "What do you have planned?"

Shaking her head at John, Natalie patted him on the arm. "Don't worry John I promise it;s nothing life threatening, harmful to you or Atlantis or really that bad. In fact, for the people involved it's gonna be quite enjoyable." she told him with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"And whose-" John started but quickly cut himself off. "Actually you know what, never mind I get it. I don't want to know anymore." he said to her.

Natalie laughed, "Are you sure, because I can give you intricate details of what I hope will happen. I do like to write for fun so I can get pretty descriptive when I want to." she told him with a teasing smile.

He immediately shook his head, "Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm good with not knowing." he said closing his eyes and trying to make the images that appeared suddenly in his head disappear.

Suppressing a giggle Natalie nodded at him, "Okay, but if you ever decide to find out-"

"Yeah I wont," he told her adamantly and then turned to look at her sideways. "Since when did you turn into such a dirty minded person?"

"Since when did you turn into such a prude?" she countered.

John smiled at that, "Touché."

Just as the two were about to walk down the hallway that led to the mess hall Natalie was grabbed from behind making her squeal like a thirteen year old, immediately Natalie recognized the massive arms one of which had a tattoo on it.

"Happy Birthday," Ronon said to Natalie and leaned down and kissed along her neck and inhaling her scent, he loved her scent it was intoxicating.

Natalie smiled to herself, "Hey Ronon." she said and grabbed his dreadlocks and pulled his face to hers and made him kiss her properly, not the teasing that he was doing to her neck – as much as she enjoyed that she wanted a real kiss.

John coughed uncomfortably, "Uh guys, do you really have ot do that in the middle of the hallway." he asked them, neither answered just continued kissing each other. "I'm gonna, yeah."

with that said the two of them were left alone in the deserted hallway, Natalie smirked up at Ronon. "Thought we'd never get rid of him." she joked which resulted in a laugh from Ronon who bent down and inhaled her scent once again. "I love your scent. You smell like leather and spice, all woman." he said to her seductively.

Natalie had to suppress a moan at that, "God Ronon, the things you say go straight to my unmentionables." she said to him and suddenly pulled him down towards her and kissed him harshly, putting all of her feeling into it, so he knew just what those words did to her. "I love the taste of man in the morning." she groaned into the kiss.

The sound of Natalie groaning and what she said to him went straight to his groin and it took everything that he had to not just push her into a random room and have his way with her, one thing was for sure was that Natalie definitely knew that those words affected him his erection was already making its presence known.

"Liked that did you big guy?" Natalie asked looking up at him through her lashes with a smirk on her face. "Usted es una persona increíble y fuerte Ronon Dex. No puedo tener suficiente de ti. Tú eres mi héroe."

Ronon grinned down at her, "You know its kinda sexy when you talk to me like that, even if I don't know what you're saying." he told her and wrapped his arms even more securely around her.

Lifting her hand Natalie caressed the side of Ronon's face and ran her hand over his beard, "I promise it's nothing bad, believe me. Maybe someday I'll tell you." she told him with a smirk.

"You better," he said to her and let her go and playfully swatted at her backside. "Lets go get food before Sheppard and McKay eat it all." he said and started to pull Natalie in the direction of the mess hall.

"You are so bad Ronon," Natalie teased and quickly walked ahead of him with a sway of her hips and walked into the mess hall.

Shaking his head at Natalie, Ronon followed her towards the mess hall so that they could get something to eat for breakfast before the day started. For the last few weeks, or really since the two had gotten together Natalie and Ronon have been dancing around each other and teasing one and another, getting all hot and heavy with one and another but they have yet to do the act.

It's obvious that they both want to, hell Natalie wants to jump his bones so badly but she doesn't want to just jump into sex as if it means nothing, she's done that before and those kind of relationships never last. Her and Ronon, she can feel that they mean more to each other then anyone else in their lives and she wants their time together to mean something, to be special to be remembered by each of them for as long as they live.

"Have a good make out session?" Emilia asked once Natalie and Ronon finally joined herself, John and Teyla at the table. "I was beginning to think you two snuck off to an empty room or something." she said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Ronon raised a brow at Natalie's friend but said nothing, he may understand Natalie on a whole different level then all of her other friends and family but one thing is for sure is that he will never understand women in general.

"You're just jealous because a certain Evan Lorne hasn't noticed that you're attracted to him and want him to sex you up yet," Natalie countered.

"Natalie!" Teyla said to her. "As true as that is, we do not need to speak of such things in the open like this." she said and looked around at where a few random people were staring at them.

"Who cares," Ronon stated with a shrug and began to dig into his food.

John shook his head and turned to look at Emilia, "I'd close your mouth, flies will start to get in." he said to her shocked expression at what Natalie said.

Quickly closing her mouth she looked at Natalie in surprise, "I can't believe you said that." she said.

"I'm getting sick of you two making eyes at each other but doing nothing about it," Natalie told her sternly. "Now get with the program and get it on with that man. You two so have the hots for each other." she said.

Hearing that Emilia blushed a bit and shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know. I never make the first move." she said and looked down at her tray.

Teyla decided to interrupt the train of conversation, "Anyways," she said looking at Natalie intently. "We are still planning on lunch?" she asked.

"Yup," Natalie said excitedly. "I can't wait." she told her honestly.

"Oh, speaking of that," Emilia said and grabbed something from besides her and handed it to Natalie.

It was a wrapped present, Natalie tentatively grabbed it from her friend and gave her a look, "I told you guys no presents." she said in half annoyance and half amusement.

John laughed at that, "When, in all the years that you've know us, have we ever listened to you?" he asked her rhetorically.

Rolling her eyes Natalie carefully opened the package and inside laid a book, when she read what it said on the cover and looked inside of the book she couldn't believe her eyes, "A signed first edition of the Vampire Lestat?" she asked with wide eyes while looking at Emilia.

Emilia nodded, "It was James' idea but we all chipped in knowing that you wouldn't want us to throw away ungodly amounts of money on tons of presents so we got you one really kickass present." she explained.

"I can't believe you guys got this for me, thank you, thank you so much." Natalie said happily and pulled Emilia into a hug.

Emilia smiled, "No prob Nat," she said returning the hug. "Lorne wanted me to say happy birthday and sorry he couldn't be here for your birthday." she said when they finally pulled away.

"Where'd he go?" Ronon asked.

"Back home for a while," Emilia answered him. "Gone to see his family for a while, he hasn't seen his sister or niece and nephew in close to a year or so."

John checked his watch and then looked up at Ronon, "Hey Chewie we should probably hget heading if we don't wanna be late." he said to his friend.

Ronon nodded and then looked at Natalie, "I will be back soon." he said and leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Where are you two going?" Teyla asked curiously, not remembering a mission that they were supposed to go on or that just Ronon and John were supposed to go on.

"Just to the mainland don't worry we'll be back soon." John said to them and then grabbed his tray to throw away the stuff on it and then left the mess hall.

Once the two men left Emilia and Teyla looked at Natalie curiously, wondering what exactly was going on that was so secret. "What?" Natalie asked when she noticed them staring at her.

Teyla gave her a look, "Where is it that they are going?" she asked.

Natalie shrugged, "I have no idea, they wont tell me anything either. The two of them have been acting odd in the last few days, I have no idea why or what exactly they are doing." she told them. "Just because I'm dating Ronon doesn't mean I understand him anymore then I used to."

At that Emilia laughed, "You understand him better then most people here." she responded.

"You are sure you do not know anything about what is going on?" Teyla asked Natalie curiously.

"Yes Teyla," Natalie said with a nod. "I am positive." she said and grabbed her tray with half eaten food and stood up. "Now as much fun as the interrogating is I gotta leave. I wanna message my family back on earth before I forget."

Saying goodbye to her two nosey friends Natalie quickly made her way out of the mess hall as fast as she could and then headed back towards her room; she had a video message to record for her family. Before she left the Milky Way galaxy for the Pegasus one Natalie had promised her family that she would either send tons of letters to them or send video message's to them on the important dates her birthday being one of them. So not wanting to get yelled at via video by her sister and mom for not sending one to them on her birthday Natalie is going to make a quick video for them before she got back to the everyday activities of Atlantis.

Sitting on her bed Natalie situated her camera on her nightstand so that it was pointed at her and started to record her message to her family, "Hey Ma, Michie, Rora, Asia; I miss you guys so much. I wish that I could be with you guys for my birthday but as you know I gotta a job to do here." she said with a smile. "And no Michie I'm still not gonna tell you where it is that I work."

"Rora, Asia I went and visited a village and a little girl I met made me something for you two, and me as well." Natalie said and lifted the three dolls up to the camera so that they could see what she had. "I'll be sending them out this week, hopefully you'll get them soon."

Taking a deep breath Natalie decided to tell her family about Ronon, "I'm dating someone here on the base. Ronon, he's the one I told you guys about a few weeks ago. We've been dating for a while now, he's amazing. Rough around the edges and a bit gruff at times but I wouldn't have him any other way. That's one of the things that are most appealing to me." she told them honestly. "He makes me feel like I've never felt before, makes me feel so accepted and like an equal to him. No guy has ever made me feel like that before."

Natalie smiled to herself, thinking about all of Rono0n's mannerisms. "I hope that someday you guys will be able to meet him. He-"

Before Natalie was able to finish her sentence her ear comm went off, "Keller to Vance come in. Keller to Vance come in."

"Vance here," Natalie said after she tapped the side of her ear comm. "What's going on Keller?" she asked curiously, she told Keller that she would come in later that day to help out.

"We have a medical emergency and we're understaffed," Keller explained to her. "I know that today's your birthday and everything but we need your help up here."

Sighing Natalie agreed, "Okay I'll be up there in a few minutes." she stated and turned her ear comm off and looked back at the camera with a sad smile. "Well guys duty calls, I hope I gave you guys enough gossip to send me a message back when you get this. I love you guys, goodbye." she said and turned the video camera off and made her way to go and help Keller.

***~*~*~*~ ~**~*~ *~ *~* Infirmary ~*~*~**~*~* ***~*~*~*~ ~**~*

Walking into the infirmary Natalie immediately realized why Keller needed her help so badly, it was packed in there with injured people from one of the off world villages and some of them were Atlantis' own people. Some were seriously injured and others only had minor cuts and scrapes but there were so many of them that Keller and Carson needed all of the help that they could get at the moment.

"Natalie!" Keller yelled when she saw her standing in the middle of the infirmary. "Thank god! I need you to do as much as you know to do to help these people." she said gesturing to everyone that was on the hospital beds. "Stitch up their wounds, clean them up, anything at all and it would be a big help."

Natalie nodded at that and went to grab some medical supplies so she could do just that, "So what happened?" she asked Carson, seeing as Keller had already went to work on someone else.

"An explosion lass," he answered as he was looking over one of the younger patients. "Some rival's attacked them, some of our people were there to trade with them. They are very lucky that our people were there or else many would be dead by now if not worse." he said to her.

"Yeah, damn lucky." Natalie said and then headed over to an elderly woman who wasn't being seen to as of yet.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. Can you tell me where you're injured?" she asked her.

"My side," she said and pointed at her side with a shaky hand. "I'm Mindella." she told her.

Natalie smiled and lifted up the woman's shirt a bit to reveal where the woman was injured, there was a lot of blood surrounding the wound but once Natalie had cleared away the blood it showed just a small wound that would only need a few stitches. It wasn't that serious to need surgery to fix anything on the inside, just a few dozen stitches and she was fine.

For the next few hours Natalie helped around the infirmary, just stitching people up and cleaning their wounds to the best of her ability and the ones that were too serious for her she just made them comfortable and did what she could for their wounds until Keller, Carson or one of the other more experienced people there could see to them.

Life on Atlantis is never boring, even on the slow days.

A/N: Sorry for taking so long ot get this out i was being a lazy ass. Well review please and i will be uber happy and give you a virtual chocolate cheescake brownie!

Spanish translation: You are an amazing and strong person Ronon Dex. I can't get enough of you. You are my hero.


	26. Presents!

A/N: Hope you all like this chapter, i wanted to get some loving in it but for what i want to do it didnt fit so yeah next chapter i promsie will be some Ronon/Natalie loving time. I promise.

Oh, i like reviews, i love and cherish them so please review.

Love is an electric blanket with somebody else in control of the switch.

- Cathy Carlyle

Don't cry for a man who's left you, the next one may fall for your smile."

Chapter twenty-six

After helping in the infirmary for a few hours Natalie left a bit after one to head towards the mess hall so that she could meet up with Teyla, Ronon, John, Rodney and Emilia for her birthday lunch. Natalie was hoping that Ronon and John had arrived back on Atlantis, the only time that she's been able to spend with Ronon was for the little bit at breakfast that morning and she was hoping to have some alone time with him for a few hours on her birthday. But for some odd reason Natalie got the feeling that she was going to be sorely disappointed.

"Natalie!" Teyla stated with a smile. "We were not sure if you were going to be able to make it to lunch or not. I had heard that you were helping out in the infirmary."

"Yeah," Natalie stated as she sat down at the table. "there was an explosion off world and they were short handed so I went to help but I managed to pull myself away finally. Once we dealt with the less serious injuries it was easier to spread the medical team around with the more serious ones." she explained.

Rodney huffed at that, "Try to be on time next time, you aren't designated for the infirmary so you didn't have to help." he told her

Teyla sighed, "Rodney, you did not have to come if you did not wish to." she told him and immediately he took on a sheepish look for what he said.

Shaking her head at Rodney, Natalie looked around and noticed that Ronon and John were not at the table. "Still no Ronon or John?" she asked with a disappointed expression.

"No I am sorry my friend but they are still off world," Teyla said to her sympathetically. "I am sure that Ronon will be back tonight, he just needed to do a few things off world." she told her.

"Hopefully." she said not very convinced.

Emilia decided to break the tense silence that had settled between the group with that statement, "Anyways, present time!" she said excitedly.

At that Natalie looked at her friends, "What? No, no presents. I told you guys that, I told you that Emilia but you didn't listen and you and the guys still got me something." she said shaking her head but trying to fight a smile and excitement about presents.

"You know we have this conversation every year for your birthday Natalie," Teyla stated with a raised brow. "And every year we still get you things, you need to accept that we are going to get you something like it or not."

Natalie couldn't help but smile at that, as much as she liked to argue about people spending money on her and buying her things she liked to open presents as much as the next person did. She is a girl after all and what girl didn't like to get presents once in a while, the ones she get may not be the kind a lot of girls like to get but she likes books and to get things that are useful rather then pretty and sparkly but she wont say no to those types either.

"Here, I went back to New Athos and saw this and immediately thought of you." Teyla said and grabbed a long box from under the table and gave it to Natalie.

Taking the box from her friend, Natalie scooted away from the table a bit and put the box in her lap so that she could open it. Lifting the top off of it Natalie's eyes widened when she saw what was inside, it was a dress a very beautiful dress. It was a light green color with a embroidered scoop neck, had an empress waist and it had long flowing sheer bell arms. It was one of the most beautiful dresses that Natalie has ever seen let alone owned before in her life.

"Teyla this is," Natalie started to say but she was speechless. "this is one of the nicest things that anyone has ever bought for me before." she sand immediately pulled Teyla into a hug. "I love it thank you."

"I am glad," Teyla said with a smile when Natalie released her from her hug.

"I have no reason to wear it around Atlantis though," Natalie said a bit downcast.

Teyla smiled at her gently, "I am sure something will come up where you will be able to wear it Natalie." she stated.

Natalie smiled at that and folded the dress back up and put it in the box for safe keeping until she could put it in her room.

Teyla handed her another gift, "This is from John," she said and gave Natalie a badly wrapped fit. "I am sure you can tell from how badly wrapped it is." she said making the girls laugh.

Unwrapping the badly wrapped gift Natalie smiled when she saw what it was that John had gotten her, it was a new weapons belt, one that was more durable that was made out of a dark leather of some sort.

"I've been needing one of these," Natalie said with a grin. "Mine keeps falling apart and I'm getting sick of always having to repair mine." she said with a pout on her face.

Rodney cleared his throat and gained the attention of the table, "I don't really know you at all but I did get you something anyways. John said it would be rude not to. So I took the liberty of creating a program for you." he said proudly.

Hearing that Natalie looked at him curiously, "A program? What kind of program?" she asked confused.

"Well Ronon mentioned a while back that you create and manipulate weapons and that you don't use a computer to figure anything out, that you do everything in your head." McKay said to her. "So I've made a program that would make it easier to do all of the alterations without having to do them in your head or on paper, plus it will show you possible outcome's instead of having to test them and take the brunt of the force if they are not stable." he said and handed her a jump drive.

"McKay," Emilia said looking at him shocked. "I think that is the nicest thing I've ever heard of you doing for someone that wasn't really your friend."

McKay shrugged, "I do have my moments." he said nonchalantly.

For a while after that the four just hung out in the in the mess hall talking and laughing and just enjoying the bit of free time that they had which didn't happen very often on Atlantis. It was nice to have a few peaceful moments when you don't have to go and do work or worry about someone dying or having to fix anything, even if it is just for a few minutes out of the day.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Later In The Day ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Its been quite a few hours since Natalie has seen Ronon, in fact she hasn't seen him since that morning and now it was nearing time for dinner and Natalie was debating whether or not if she should go to dinner at all. And if Ronon is in fact back on Atlantis and hoping to meet up with her in the mess hall to have dinner like they had originally planned then she definitely didn't want to go; Ronon needed to realize that leaving your girlfriend with barely a word and being gone for the whole day was not cool at all. Natalie may not be the possessive type or the kind of girl who needs to know where her boyfriend is at all hours but she would like a word from him once he realized he wasn't going to be back on base after the first three hours or so.

Suddenly there was a knock next to where her room door was open to the hallway, glancing up from her sprawled out position on her bed Natalie saw Teyla smiling at her hesitantly. In response to that Natalie just sighed sadly and motioned for Teyla to come inside.

"Come, get up." Teyla said as she pulled on Natalie's arms so that she would sit up. "We must get you ready." she told her.

At that Natalie looked at Teyla confused, "Ready? Ready for what?" she asked as she let Teyla pull her up and off of the bed. "Cant you just leave me alone and let me mope around?"

Teyla laughed at that, "No I cannot." she replied. "Ronon is back, he is doing something very special for you for your birthday and has asked me to help get you ready."

Natalie crossed her arms with a huff at that, "So he's decided to finally come back has he? It would have been nice if he would have told me how long he was going to be gone," she said in annoyance. "I mean a simple radio call would have been enough."

"Yes I do know that Natalie," Teyla said to her patiently. "But the reason he was gone most of the day was to get things ready for your birthday dinner tonight. Trust me, this will be worth it and you may yell at him all you wish once you get ready and you two are alone." she told her.

Sighing in resignation Natalie nodded, "Fine, I guess I can do that." she conceded. "Now what the hell am I supposed to wear?" she asked looking at Teyla pleadingly.

Hearing that Teyla smiled softly, "I would advise for you to wear something other then what you do on an everyday basis. As much as it suits you I do not think it would be suitable for what Ronon has planned." she told her.

"Well that makes this a bit more complicating," Natalie said as she and Teyla went over to where her clothes were at.

After about twenty minutes of going through the clothes that she had and changing her outfit at least five times Natalie and Teyla finally agreed on an outfit; Natalie was wearing a pair of cream flowy pants that tied on the side, she had on a long sleeved cream colored scoop neck shirt that had bell arms and then she had on a pair of brown gladiator shoes with gold on them. Natalie and Teyla had unbraided all of Natalie's hair sop that it had a crimped look and half of it was pulled back and out of her face and the rest hung loose down her shoulders. On her neck she was wearing a turquoise beaded necklace and on her wrist she was wearing a Hawaiian style bracelet.

"You look amazing Natalie," Teyla said to her with a smile. "I do not think that Ronon will be able to take his hands off of you, not that you would mind much." she said ot her with a smirk.

Natalie looked at Teyla shocked, "Teyla!" she said shaking her head.

Teyla gave Natalie a look, "You didn't deny it," she pointed out.

"I think it's time for you to leave Teyla," Natalie said to her. "Thank you for helping me get ready." she said to her.

"It was no trouble." Teyla said to her. "I will see you tomorrow." she said trying to hide her amused smile.

Playfully Natalie hit her friend on the arm and opened the door of her room, but instead of revealing an empty hallway there stood Ronon who looked like he was just about to knock on her door.

Teyla smiled, "Hello Ronon," she said and then looked between the two. "Enjoy the night." she said and with that she left Natalie's room heading to who knows where.

A/N: I know Cliff hanger and you guys hate that but it works for me starting the next chapter, review please

**A man asked a genie to make him a billion times smarter than any man on earth, so the genie turned him into a woman.**

**a friend will calm you down when your angry, but a best friend will skip beside you with a baseball bat singing "someones gonna get it" :)**


	27. Dinner

Disclaimer Not mine sadly, oh how i wish it was.

A/N I know itsw been forever since i updated, like since october and i feel bad but i've been in a blah mood nad felt like reading more then writing at the moment so i hope the next two chapters make up for my neglectfulness.

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Lust tastes like tequila and love tastes like whiskey...Love burns for longer and warms you up on the inside and sometimes it makes you do stupid things. Tequila just makes you wasted.

- jackson rathbone

I think i know but what if i dont know and if i dont know then why did i say know becuase i dont know? But then again what if i do know. i dont know.

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Chapter twenty-seven

Natalie was standing in the doorway of her room with her arms crossed and was staring at Ronon with a raised brow, "You've been gone almost all day." she said to him.

At that Ronon rubbed the back of his neck, "Wasn't planning on it taking that long." he told her gruffly.

"Did ya forget to radio me to say that you were gonna be gone for that long?" Natalie asked him, she wasn't pissed at him anymore especially after she found out that he was really gone because he was getting stuff for her birthday dinner but who would she be if she didn't make him squirm a bit.

Ronon frowned a bit at that and scrunched his eyes up, he knew that Natalie would be pissed at him not being around all day but he didn't think she'd be this mad. "If you don't want to do anything fine. I can leave." he said and made to go.

Natalie grabbed him around the arm and gave him a small smile, "No don't, I'm sorry Ronon I was just messing with you. I didn't mean to be hard on you." she told him. "Just next time warn me or radio me at least."

"I will," Ronon said determinedly and wrapped his arms around Natalie pulling her a bit closer.

"Promise?" Natalie asked looking up at him.

Ronon smirked, "Yes, promise." he told her seriously.

"Now," Natalie started looking at him playfully. "I believe you owe me something for being gone all day, and you owe me big Ronon Dex." she told him with a waggle of her eyebrows.

At that Ronon growled at her sexily and stared down at her with a smirk on his face, "And what do I owe you Natalie?" he asked.

For a few moments Natalie pretended to consider what Ronon owed her before she grinned up at him, "I believe a kiss would make up more then enough for leaving me alone all day when we could have been doing something more constructive." she said to him suggestively.

When she said that Ronon gave her a wolfish grin and pulled her as close against him as he possibly could, bending down Ronon lightly pecked her on the lips and pulled away and laughed when he saw Natalie's pout. "What?" he asked.

"That," she said with a pointed look. "Was not a proper kiss." she said and grabbed him around his neck and pulled him down to her and made sure that he knew exactly what a proper kiss was supposed to be like.

Ronon pulled away and looked down at Natalie, "I'll try and remember to kiss you like that next time." he said to her with a laugh.

Natalie smiled up at him, "You look good tonight." she said and gestured to what he was wearing; he had on a nice dark long sleeved shirt, a part of pants that weren't as worn in as his everyday ones, and his dreadlocks were tied back and out of his face.

"Yeah, but you look better." Ronon said looking Natalie up and down.

Smiling at him in amusement Natalie lightly pushed him out of the doorway in her room and waved her hand over the sensor to shut it and then looked up at Ronon curiously, "So Romeo where are we going?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Romeo?" he asked curiously.

Shaking her head Natalie looped her arm through Ronon's, "Never mind, Earth reference." she told him. "So where are we going?" she asked curiously.

All Ronon did in response to that was pull Natalie over into a transporter and then pressed for the level that he wanted, the only way Natalie is going to find out where they are going is once she gets there – she'll recognize where he's taking her the second that they start getting closer to the place.

Sighing Natalie looked up at Ronon with a slight put out expression on her face, "You aren't going to be telling me anything about where we're going are you?" she asked him with a curious expression.

"No," Ronon said with an amused smile on his face.

A few minutes later the transporter stopped at the level Ronon wanted and the two stepped off of it and into the hallway, the second Natalie saw the hallway they were in she immediately recognized where they were heading. The balcony, the one that Ronon brought her to right after they had sparred against one and another.

Stopping in front of the door of the room Ronon looked down at Natalie, "Close your eyes," he commanded of her.

Natalie looked at him oddly when he said that, "What?" she asked cocking an eye brow and staring up at him curiously.

"Close your eyes," he stated to her once again.

"Why?" Natalie said slowly looking at Ronon suspiciously.

Ronon gave her a look, "Just trust me, you'll thank me in the end believe me." he told her with a cocky smirk on his face.

Still looking at him suspiciously Natalie closed her eyes nonetheless wondering why Ronon wanted her to close her eyes, Ronon took Natalie by the hand and gently led her into the balcony room all the while instructing her to keep her eyes closed until he said so. Whatever it was that Ronon had planned Natalie could tell that he went to hard work to make it perfect and as much as she wanted to know what he did, Natalie knew that it would be worth the wait just as Ronon said.

"Sit," Ronon said as he helped her into a chair that was set up on the balcony. "Open your eyes now." he told her.

Opening her eyes Natalie couldn't believe what she was seeing, set out on a table up on the balcony was a small dinner for two – there were some fruit from various planets around the Pegasus galaxy. On the two plates that were set out was some kind of meat that looked extremely scrumptious and looked as if it had been marinated, then on the side of the table was another plate that was covered so that Natalie was unable to see what it was. Most likely Ronon wanted that dish to be a surprise or something like that.

"Ronon," Natalie said in amazement looking across the table at his content face. "This, this is amazing. You made all this?" she asked curiously.

He gave a quick nod at that, "Yeah, it was why I was gone for most of the day. I wanted you to have a true Satedan meal and I had to leave for the mainland to hunt and gather things for this." he told her with a shrug.

Natalie smiled softly at Ronon, "You, are completely amazing." she said to him and leaned over the table and pulled him closer to her by his shirt and gently kissed him before letting him go and sitting back down in her seat.

"Eat," he said and gestured to the food. "This is your birthday dinner, I made all this to be eaten."

Smiling Natalie nodded at him, "Thank you Ronon." she said to him quietly and then started to eat the food that Ronon had made especially for her, to her surprise Ronon was quite the cook, not what she was expecting at all.

For most of the meal neither Natalie nor Ronon really said much, they did the usual small talk and telling each other how their day went. Natalie told Ronon about the video message that she sent to her family back on Earth and how her birthday was the one day that she wished that she could be with them but for the most part they talked about nothing in particular, though they did keep on sneaking suggestive looks at each other during the whole meal.

Once the two had finished the food and Ronon had cleared the table of the plates and whatever food was left over he leaned back against his chair and just looked at Natalie, he couldn't help but stare at her she was so captivating and he, Ronon was an idiot happily in love.

"What?" Natalie asked breaking the silence. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"You, how beautiful you are." he said to her, but before Natalie was able to respond to that he grabbed two packages, one that was quite large and then a smaller one and set them out in front of Natalie.

Natalie looked at Ronon, "What are these?" she asked.

He raised a brow at her, "People normally give presents on birthdays don't they?" he asked with a chuckle. "Open them." he said gesturing to the presents.

Unable to hold back the grin Natalie grabbed the bigger package first and untied the twin that was holding the package together and once the package fell apart it revealed a dark brown worn looking leather jacket. It was a military style tailcoat that had antique button detail on the front on both right and left side of the jacket, on the back and on the bottom of the sleeves as well. It reminded Natalie of the civil war kind of military jackets, she couldn't wait to wear the jacket her favorite one was destroyed when she and the others had the run in with Altozia.

Setting the jacket down in her lap Natalie grabbed the much smaller package and untied that one as well and out slipped a bracelet, and this wasn't just any bracelet Natalie could tell that this one was handmade out of bone.

"I know you didn't get a new jacket after your time on that planet so I decided it would be safe to get you one," Ronon told her gruffly, not used to getting people nice things like that very often.

Natalie stared at Ronon, "You didn't have to, I would have bought one eventually or ordered one from Earth." she told him.

At that Ronon laughed, "Yeah and by the time you would have gotten it you would have needed it weeks earlier, besides you hate the kind of stuff they choose for you guys that they bring back from Earth." he told her as he gently grabbed the bracelet and put it on her wrist that was free of any jewelry. "This is made of wraith bone."

For a few moments neither said anything, Natalie was watching Ronon and Ronon was looking down at Natalie's hand running his fingers over it memorizing every inch of it to memory.

"Thank you," Natalie said suddenly, making Ronon look away from her hands and instead up into her eyes. "Really Ronon, thank you and not just for the things you gave me but for everything that you did tonight. I know you are a tough guy and can kick anyone's ass that comes in your path but I know you're a romantic at heart." she said and pulled Ronon's hands up to her and gently kissed his knuckles.

He grunted at that, "It wasn't much, you deserve more." he told her honestly.

"No Ronon," Natalie stated. "You gave me more then everything, this means more to me then anything I've ever had before. You just being with me today and going through all of this means the world to me, truly." she told him honestly.

At that Ronon got a shit eating grin on his face, it's been a long time since someone has told him that he means everything to them. Natalie may have not said it in those specific words but Ronon got the gist of what she meant and he couldn't be more ecstatic to hear it.

Smirking Natalie looked at Ronon, "So now what?" she asked leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands.

"Anything you want Nat, the night is yours." Ronon told her seriously.

Natalie's eyes lit up at that, "Anything?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded at her, "Anything." he confirmed.

Standing up with a wolfish smile on her face Natalie slowly walked her way over to Ronon's side of the table and pulled him up and out of his chair so that he was standing at his full height in front of Natalie; Ronon looked down at Natalie amused and wondering what exactly she was doing. He soon found out what Natalie had planned when she suddenly jumped up at him and started to kiss him fervently, in response to that he wrapped his arms around her lower back and then Natalie wrapped her legs and arms around him – pressing herself as tightly against him as she possibly could.

After pulling away for some much needed breath Natalie looked up at Ronon through her lashes, "So are you going to take me away to have your way with me or what?" she asked him teasingly and hopefully.

At that Ronon leaned back a bit and looked at Natalie shocked, he knew that they were very physical couple even when just making out but he didn't realize that she was ready for that; he on the other hand was ready for that the day they got together but he's a guy, its expected.

"You sure 'bout that?" Ronon asked seriously, staring into Natalie's eyes. "Once we get past a certain point there's no going back you know." he said to her.

Natalie smirked up at him, "I'm more then sure Ronon," she told him in a sultry voice. "If you would rather I just go wander back to my room alone to and please myself. I mean it's not as fun as you would be I bet but-"

Before she could finish that statement Ronon pulled her closer to him and leaned down and kissed her hard, leaving her breathing heavy and lip looking a tad bit bruised. "I want you to not regret this Natalie, I want you to feel everything I feel for you." he said pushing his hips towards her so that she could feel his very hard erection.

When he did that Natalie breathed in deeply, already itching to wrap her hands around him and have some fun. "You are the only one I want Ronon, I want you to take me to your room and have your way with me, I want you to kiss me, to kiss anything on me that you want. I want you to take my clothes off and I want to take yours off and kiss every inch of skin that I can find." she told him seductively.

"I love it when you talk sexy," Ronon said as he caressed the side of Natalie's face.

Natalie smiled, "So is that a yes for heading to your room or should I just plan on heading back to mine to try and get unfrustrated?" she asked him with a smirk.

When she said that Ronon looked down at her with a grin and stepped away from her a bit before he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room; grabbing the jacket that Ronon had gave her Natalie let herself be dragged out of the room and to Ronon's so that the two could finally do what they've been itching to do for weeks.

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Normal? Ha! I make normal quiver in a corner across the room. who needs nromal anyways? i'd rahter be a unique individual

**A husband and wife were trying to set up a new password for their computer. Her husband put 'mypenis' and the wife fell on the ground laughing cause it said, "Error. Not long enough."**

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SURPRISE: GOT pics of outfit and stuff on my polyvore, Link on bottom of A/N.

A/N: Hope you all liked this i know its been forever which is why i am putting two chapters up. Love you guys you all rock, i love the reviews and thanks for making my day amazing everytime you review.

Natalie's outfit: .com/worlds_away_nat_bday_dinner/set?id=23619909

Ronon's gifts to natalie: .com/worlds_away_ronons_gifts/set?id=23771320


	28. Zebra Printed Vixen

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N two chapters at once yay so awesome smooches guys after i update this i am going to bed, its 2:20 in the morning and i am dead tired and have to work tomorrow.

**"Sure there have been injuries and deaths in boxing - but none of them serious."**  
- _Alan Minter, Boxer_

strong and beautiful like a kickass rainbow unicorn

-me

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Chapter twenty-eight

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Ronon's Room ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Once the two were safely in Ronon's room and the door was shit and locked so that there wouldn't be any disturbances to the two of them anytime soon Ronon looked at Natalie heatedly and all but slammed her into one of the walls in his room, nothing that would hurt her but enough to show how much he wanted her.

Closing the distance between the two of them, Ronon pressed his body as close and as into Natalie's as he possibly could, showing her just how much he wanted her and how much her wanting to be with him in every way possible turned him on. Swooping down Ronon captured Natalie's lips in a searing and passion filled kiss, him dominating it with everything he had. As he was kissing her his hand that wasn't pressed against the wall keeping him angled to be able to kiss her comfortably was slowly sliding under her shirt, further up her fleshy stomach and up to cup her breasts through her bra that he had sadly no idea how to get off.

Natalie moaned and tilted her head back in ecstasy; it has been way too long since Natalie has been with anyone, not since she had left earth so that meant she hasn't had sex in nearly four years or so. Ronon smirked at this realization, it was no wonder Natalie was being so responsive to the smallest of touches to one of the most intimate area's on her body.

Breaking away from the very hot and sensual kiss Ronon pulled Natalie away from the wall and walked the few feet to where his bed was and pushed her down on it into a sitting position, before Natalie was able to say anything to the new position Ronon had grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and off of her body and threw it into a random corner of his room.

"What, no foreplay?" Natalie said teasingly while shaking her hair out making it go all around her and giving her a sort of goddess/ethereal look to her.

Ronon gently pushed her back onto the bed so that she way laying down, her feet hanging off the end and then he straddled her and leaned down and kissed her, his heard tickling her skin a bit. "Next time," Ronon answered off handed. "I've waited too damn long for this to go slow with you." he growled in her ear as he gently nipped at it and the skin on her neck, slowly moving down farther.

"Ro-" Natalie was cut off from her statement by Ronon licking the valley in between her breasts, she had to admit she had a thing for a guy who paid attention to her breasts she loved the feeling of them licking and sucking anywhere near them.

"Move up farther," Ronon said as he stood up from straddling Natalie near the edge of his bed.

Doing as she was told Natalie scooted herself up farther on the bed so that she was sitting nearly in the middle of the bed; pulling off his own shirt Ronon joined Natalie on the bed and pulled at a strap of Natalie's bra – it was zebra print.

"You need to get more of these interesting clothing," he said huskily as he leaned down towards her ear. "But for now this needs to come off." he said looking at her expectantly.

Natalie smirked at him knowingly, "What you don't want to take it off for me?" she asked him with a teasing smile.

Ronon took in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of her neck and then pulled back to look into her dark eyes. "Don't test me woman, take it off now." he commanded leaving no room for arguments or Natalie teasing him.

"No need to get your panties in a bunch," she said to him with an amused shake of her head as she reached back and unclasped her bra and slowly let it fall off of her arms and then flung it away from her. "Happy?" she asked trying to not be embarrassed about being naked in front of Ronon.

She may act all super confident and not afraid of anything but she is still a girl and more often then not girls are insecure about their bodies. Sure Ronon said that he liked her the size that she was compared to all of the stick thin people that seemed to be around and that seemed to control the media of earth, but it doesn't mean that he would change his mind once he actually saw Natalie naked.

"Amazing," Ronon barely whispered in awe of her as he gently pushed her down to lay on the bed and let his hands roam over her hips and stomach and up to her breasts and cupped them without the barrier of her bra. "Simply amazing."

Natalie was about to argue back to him, to tell him that she wasn't when Ronon's thumb gently flicked Natalie's overly sensitive nipped making her inhale sharply at the sensation that gave her, she let the pillows engulf her and looked up at Ronon who was looking down at her as if he was a kid that was told Christmas was a year round thing.

"You look almost edible," Ronon said deeply to her, staring only at her breasts. "I think I need a taste." he said to her and then slowly leaned down and kissed down her neck, nibbled on her collar bone and kissed the top of her breasts and kissed the valley between her breasts before finally capturing one peaked breast in his mouth, while his mouth was occupied with licking and sucking one breast his hands were busying themselves.

One hand was kneading her right breast meanwhile his other hand was slowly inching down lower and teased the skin just above the soft, flimsy fabric pants that shew was wearing and was thinking that would look much better on the floor of his room rather then on Natalie.

Being over taken by the feeling of what Ronon was doing and unable to control herself Natalie bucked her hips towards Ronon's hand that was teasing the skin just under her pants, very slowly and very deliberately going slow to torture her. All she wanted was for him to touch her, to finger her or hell they could forgo all of this teasing and just get it on. Apparently Ronon changed his mind about foreplay and wanted to tease her and make her beg for what she truly wanted.

Ronon laughed at Natalie's eagerness while he let go from licking and sucking her breast, he switched side's and then slowly his hand that was barely inside of her pants rubbed against her sensitive mound making Natalie give a throaty moan. Ronon smirked while licking and sucking at her and then took a good grip of her pants and shoved them down her legs, not completely off of her but far enough down to not get in the way at the moment.

Willingly Natalie spread her legs a bit wider for Ronon as he slowly rubbed her cloth covered slit, pushing his thumb in the right place where he knew he could make Natalie squirm and moan his name loudly, the place where she would beg for mercy. Rubbing the area slowly, Natalie panted harder as she grabbed a handful of Ronon's dreadlocks and pulled him up to her face and kissed him passionately and heatedly – she couldn't take anymore of the ministrations on her breasts, not that she was fairing much better with where his other hand was at the moment.

"Ronon," Natalie begged pulling away from the kiss and looking him in the eyes as his free hand – the one that wasn't teasing her in the nether regions, started to glide up and down her sides, ghosted over her breasts, gently cupped her ass and ran his fingers through her hair. "please." she begged him.

He smirked at her, "Please what Natalie?" he asked her sensually.

Natalie growled at him as he started to put more pressure on the small nub that was hidden by her underwear that very conveniently matched her zebra print bra. "Damn it Ronon, I can't take it. Please, please stop torturing me." she begged him desperately as she started to grind against the hand that was playing with her sensitive area.

"Hmm, you want me inside you is that it?" he stated as he looked down at her with a smirk on his face, she answered with a nod. "Well I don't think I can do that right now, I owe you quite a bit of torture Natalie."

Huffing at him Natalie was about to open her mouth to argue with him but instead a deep moan escaped her mouth, Ronon sneaked his hands into her underwear and was now stroking her, feeling her wetness and how much she wanted him. Already he could imagine what she would feel like around him, her warmth capturing his member and he could just picture her withering underneath him, or her bouncing on top of him as he pulled her down onto his member.

Ronon sat up a bit and leaned back and looked down at Natalie, she was flushed, breathing heavily and looked to be getting a bit sweaty – to Ronon she was the picture of beauty, he loved how beautiful she was and was amazed that he was able to land someone as perfect as her. Smirking down at her Ronon slowly pulled Natalie's pants off the rest of the way and then her underwear, Ronon was about to lean down and kiss her again and then kiss her wherever he felt like it but Natalie stopped him.

"Nope, not happening. Take the rest of your clothes off." she demanded in an oddly very commanding voice.

Surprisingly Ronon complied, quickly throwing his pants off and joining Natalie back on the bed to finish what they started. Instead of Natalie laying in the middle of the bed like she had been, she was now sitting up staring at Ronon with a heated expression on her face. She glanced down at him and her eyes widened in surprise at how well built he was down there but her shock quickly turned to lust and want.

Without warning Natalie suddenly threw herself at Ronon, making him land on his back on the bed this time instead of it being her, immediately Natalie kissed Ronon hard on the lips but soon pulled away when he tried to make it more passionate. Natalie started to kiss down his face, kissing his cheeks, his neck, nibbling on his ear and licking his ear the the skin just behind his ear. She then started to go lower, kissing the crook of his neck, nibbling on his collar bone; all the meanwhile Natalie's hands started to wander one feeling up his chest and abs while the other decided to go a little but lower, just above where his manhood was and then finally she grasped his massive manly manhood in her hands and started to stroke and pump him not believing that as she did that that he got even bigger and harder. Damn was the man packing some serious good junk under those clothes that he wore.

While she was doing that Natalie was grinding herself against his legs where she was seated, slowly Natalie sat up and ran her hands around Ronon's chest feeling him up and running her nails up and down his chest. She started to kiss down his stomach towards her ultimate goal; looking up at Ronon she smirked, his eyes were closed. Griping his manhood harder and pumping him faster Natalie leaned down towards him and gave him a good long lick along his manliness.

The second she did that Ronon nearly jumped out of his skin and looked down at what she was doing, unable to comprehend what he was seeing at first he blinked a few times and saw that Natalie was licking up and down his cock and gently sucking on the tip a few times before going back to licking him again. Before Natalie was able to take anymore of him into her mouth her grabbed her by her arms and hauled her up towards him and he kissed her hard and then flipped them over again, he grabbed her legs and put them on either side of his and grabbed a hold of her hips so that she couldn't try and flip over again and tackle him to being on the bottom once again.

Ronon Pulled Natalie up tight to him, close enough so that she could feel how hard he was for her but far enough away so that he didn't enter her yet. He wanted to tease her a bit before he finally gave in, though it wont take much for him to finally give in.

Feeling Ronon against her, Natalie pushed herself against his hardness and began to rub herself against him wanting to relieve some of the pressure that she could feel from him teasing her earlier and from her just looking at Ronon. She wanted, no needed him in her very soon or else she was going to go completely crazy soon.

"Ah ah," Ronon said grabbing Natalie's hips to stop her from trying to get him in her. "stop little vixen, no need to be so greedy." he told her.

"Damn it Ronon I need you right the fuck now," she said breathing heavily and wishing he would just take what she willingly gave to him.

Ronon reached down between them and grasped his manhood and teased her opening with it, running it along her slit and just barely pushing it in her before removing it again. "This? Is this what you want so badly?" he asked her.

"Yes, god please Ronon, please!" she begged and thrust down onto him while he pushed a bit into her, sadly his hand was quite near the head so she didn't take much more in then he had been pushing in her teasingly.

In frustration Natalie grabbed onto the sheets that she was laying on and threw her head back onto the very soft pillows that were on the bed. "Ronon...oh holy shit." she said as he slipped a bit more into her and she let out a very loud and a very needy moan. "Damn it Ronon, damn it, fuck, shit you're killing me here you fucking ass. Fuck, please Ronon, I need you now." she said swearing up a storm from sexual frustration.

Natalie gripped onto his arms, her finger nails scratching down his toned and very tanned arms, looking him in the eyes and pleading with him.

Grasping onto her legs Ronon pulled them more securely around his waist, he grabbed his manhood in his hands and positioned himself at her sweetness so that he could give her what she wanted. Leaning over he kissed her very gently before suddenly he thrust into her hard and fast, Natalie broke away from the kiss and gasped loudly, never in all her years of dating and experience with men has she ever felt so complete and so full before.

"You okay?" Ronon asked as he let her get adjusted to his size, he watched her reaction to him entering her and was afraid that he might have hurt her somehow.

Nodding, Natalie pulled Ronon for a heated kiss. "Yeah I'm fine." she said and rolled her hips, silently telling him to move.

Groaning Ronon almost pulled the whole way out of her and then gently pushed back into her, one of his hands holding him up so that he didn't smash her with is weight and the other roaming all over her body.

"I'm not a fragile virgin Ronon, go harder. Please." Natalie begged him, she liked the innocent and loving and soft way he was going with her but that is not what she wanted at the moment.

Smiling to himself, Ronon gave her a quick kiss and then started to thrust into her as she asked him to. He thrust hard into her, twisting and rolling his hips to make it more intense and to bring her closer to the edge but it made him even closer to the edge as well. Grabbing one of Natalie's legs he pulled it up a bit so that her knee was near eye level, this new position made Natalie feel him go even further into her, giving her even more pleasure then she thought before. He thrust even harder and faster into her at this new position, loving how far he could go into her like that.

"God I love you." Ronon said to her.

Natalie smiled up at him as she kept on meeting him thrust for thrust, trying to give him as much pleasure back as he was giving to her at the moment. Twisting and bucking her hips into his, scratching down his back and arching herself up towards him. Every time her breasts got within reach of his mouth he would lightly lick each one.

Feeling himself coming to an end soon Ronon reached down between the two and started to rub her clit area, wanting to bring her and himself to completion, wanting to feel her come around him, wanting her to feel how much he really truly does love her and that he would do anything for her.

"G.g..god Ronon, I love you. I love you so fucking much." Natalie declared and then thrust her hips even harder up to Ronon's before she moaned loudly, a tell tale sign that she had come.

A few moments later Ron on pulled out of her and came onto her stomach, as much as he loved Natalie and would give her anything he really doubted that either wanted her to get pregnant at that moment in time. Ronon rolled off of Natalie and laid down besides her, just reveling in the fact that he and Natalie had finally physically showed each other how much they loved each other.

"Wow Ronon, that was. There are no words for what that was to me, it was so amazing and so much more." Natalie said to him.

Ronon chuckled at that, "I know, I feel like that too. God I love you Nat, love you more then anything else out there." he told her honestly.

Natalie sat up a bit, "now as much as I like to be covered in your manliness I would much rather clean up this before going to bed." she told him with a look.

He smiled at her and got out of bed in all his naked glory and went over to a dresser and brought over a wet wash rag and gently washed his cum from her, once he finished up with her he quickly cleaned himself off and then threw it back into the bowl of water where he got it from.

"Come on," Ronon said as he pulled the covers back from his bed. "Lets get some sleep."

Immediately Natalie hopped under the blankets and snuggled under them and then laid her head on Ronon's chest once he laid down in bed besides her, after of course he turned the lights off. That night was the beginning of the best thing in their lives, the start of their lives with one and another. The start of a very amazing and passionate relationship.

RN NR RN NR

I'm not insane. The voices in my head have convinced me of that. They also tell me not to talk to you. The voices don't like you.

I'm not weird. Well, I am, but not weird weird. Just limited edition

A/N: LIke it?


	29. Arguing and sex talk

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be sadly

A/N: Hope you like this, i know it's been forever since i've updated but hope this makes up for it.

Nat's outfit: www. Polyvore. com /wa_nats_outfit_after_bday/set?id=27142103

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Chapter twenty-nine

Waking up the next morning, Natalie was confused – for one she was completely naked and secondly she was sleeping in a room that was most definitely not her's. Shaking her head to wake herself up Natalie sat up in bed and tried to remember what happened the night before, it was her birthday she knew that. Looking besides her Natalie soon remembered what had happened the night before and where exactly she was; she and Ronon had spent the night together in his room. They touched, felt and experienced every part of each others bodies as they could – they didn't just have sex, they showed each other exactly how they felt about one and another without the need to say anything.

With a big grin on her face Natalie laid back down on the bed besides Ronon and was just about to fall back asleep when she felt a very familiar had begin to draw design's on her back, glancing behind her Natalie stared at Ronon who was looking down at her with a playful smirk.

"Hey you," Natalie said with a smile on her face.

Ronon grinned back at her, "Though you were gonna just get up and leave when you woke up at first," he said looking at her intently.

Natalie shook her head at that, "I was just a tad bit confused at where I was for a second," she answered him.

"Not confused now?" Ronon asked as he started to gently kiss from her sternum up her neck and on her shoulder's.

"No," Natalie said to him shaking her head. "I know exactly where I am." she said and grabbed him by his face and pulled him up towards her so that she could kiss him properly. "I don't have anywhere that I would rather be." she said to him and rested her head on his very muscled and very naked chest and looked up at him.

Ronon glanced down at her, "Not that I'd let you go anywhere anyways." he said to her.

At that Natalie smiled, but gave a sheepish smile when her stomach growled. "Well you might have to let me go so that we can go to the mess hall, I'm starving after that exciting night."

Ronon sat up when she said that which forced Natalie to straddle him, forcing their naked lower bodied to be closely pressed together. "Or we could stay here, have some fun in bed." he suggested.

"No," Natalie said shaking her head. "No Ronon, I would love to really but food, I need food before we can have anymore sex. Seriously, you're going to sex me to death." she told him and got up and off of the bed.

He smirked, "Well can't let that happen now can we." he said as he got off of the bed and went to go and get dressed.

"RONON!" Natalie said to him.

He turned and looked at her, "What?" he asked.

"I don't have any clothes to wear," Natalie said with a sigh, looking at him as if he should know what's wrong.

"Whats wrong with your clothes from last night?" Ronon asked her.

"I can't go down to the mess hall in the same clothes I wore last night." she told him as a matter of a factly. "We're stopping by my room first thing." she said and grudgingly put her clothes from the night before on.

Leaving Ronon's room Natalie immediately made her way towards her room so that she could quickly stop and change out of her dressy clothes; she changed into a pair of faded and worn in pants and one of her New Athos style shirt. Once dressed Natalie and Ronon headed down to the mess hall, surprisingly there weren't that many people in there when they arrived – three or four people at the most.

"You up for sparring later?" Ronon asked once he and Natalie had sat down at one of the tables to eat.

Natalie looked up at him with a serious consideration look on her face, "Well I don't know, the last time we planned on sparring you totally canceled on me and was basically gone the whole day without a word. Feel's like it was just yesterday," she said thoughtfully and then looked up at Ronon. "Wait...it was yesterday."

Ronon rolled his eyes at that, "I thought we were over that Natalie," he said looking at her.

"We are," Natalie said with a smile. "I was just messing with you." she told him.

He gave her a half smile, "So after lunch? Me, you, sparring?" he asked.

"Sure," Natalie said with a grin. "I'd more then love to kick your ass." she told him with a wink.

Ronon gave a deep laugh at that, "You girlie, won't be able to kick my ass." he said to her shaking his head.

Natalie shrugged, "I can try." she told him as she took a bite of her food.

Not too much longer after that more people started to come into the mess hall; people were just getting up for the day, some taking breaks from working on whatever projects that they were assigned to do and some just coming to have some breakfast. Keller and Emilia were some of the few people who were coming in for some breakfast, Emilia at the moment looked like she has barely been awake for five minutes.

Emilia and Keller joined Natalie and Ronon's table and began to do small talk while eating some breakfast, Ronon wasn't saying anything just leaning back in his chair with one of his hands resting on her thigh rubbing up and down sensually.

"So any idea on when Lorne is coming back from Earth?" Natalie asked looking at Emilia. "As much as I love being the leader of the group and whatnot I'd rather not be, because let's face it I hate being the leader and negotiator at the same time as being the defenses. Not exactly the easiest thing to do." she said to them with an annoyed look as she viciously stabbed at some of the food on her plate.

That comment made Emilia laugh, "Haven't got a clue but I do know that we are lucky as hell for getting away without being killed the last time we went on a mission," she stated, but she didn't notice Natalie subtly shaking her head, signaling her to stop talking.

Ronon looked livid about finding out that Natalie was in danger, he turned towards Natalie and looked at her warningly. "What last time?"

Natalie ignored him for a moment and turned towards Emilia and glared, Emilia gave her an apologetic look. Turning back towards Ronon Natalie sighed, "It was nothing big, the last time me, Emi the blabber mouth here and Gibson went off world we may have almost gotten killed just a tad bit." she said and motioned to just how small of a possibility that they almost got killed was.

"You nearly got killed?" Ronon stated, it was obvious from hims posture that he was angry as hell.

"I didn't get killed or anything," Natalie said in defense of herself. "Nothing that Emilia, myself and Gibson couldn't handle." she told him.

Ronon shook his head and breathed in deeply, "You nearly got killed and didn't tell me." he said angrily.

Keller and Emilia both looked at each other and then looked at Ronon and Natalie, neither were willing to interrupt the fight that was going on but nor did they want to leave the table and not see the outcome of the fight. It was like watching a car crash, you just can't look away from it.

Natalie sighed and played with the food that was on her tray, "Yeah Ronon I didn't tell you that I nearly got killed on my last mission, sorry I didn't but for one I didn't want you to overreact like you're doing right now." she told him with a pointed look. "And two, I didn't even get hurt so no harm done. Besides it's not like you tell me every time you get hurt or nearly killed do you Ronon Dex?" she questioned him. "I have to find out what happens on your missions from Teyla, not you but Teyla because you don't think you should tell me if you got hurt or were in danger."

When she said that Ronon huffed in annoyance at her and glared slightly, he knew in the back of his mind that she was right. "I worry about you, I don't want anything to happen to you." he said quickly and glanced over at Keller and Emilia, daring them to say anything about acting so unlike himself.

"I know," Natalie said giving Ronon a gentle smile. "I worry about you too Ronon but you know I can take care of myself, you've seen me fight before." she told him, in response all she got was a grunt from him which made her sigh at him. "Look Ronon, if you want to know more about my missions I'll tell you but you need to do the same you know. You can't just expect me to tell you things when you won't do the same." she said and crossed her arms and looked at him meaningfully.

Ronon stared at her for a few moments before he nodded, "Okay," he stated.

"Awesome," Natalie said and then went back to her food.

A few minutes later John came up to the table that Ronon and the girls were sitting at, "Hey girls," he said with a smile and then turned ot look at Ronon. "We gotta go, have a mission to do." he said to him.

Ronon stood up but didn't follow John who made his way out of the mess hall, instead Ronon stared at Natalie for a few moments before he suddenly left without a word intending on getting ready to go off world.

"Doesn't that bother you at all?" Keller asked staring at Natalie.

"Does what bother me?" Natalie asked looking at her two friends.

Emilia gave Natalie an odd look, "Ronon, not saying good bye or anything at all when he leaves," she said to her.

At that Natalie smiled and shook her head, "Nope, not really. I know what most of his looks mean, so he's talking to me and telling me something without really saying anything." she said to them. "Besides I know he will be fine, he's a fighter." she said confidently.

"Since he's gone now and everything," Emilia said with a smirk and looked at Natalie. "How did last night go? What happened, what did you guys do?" she asked looking at Natalie expectantly. "Come on dish."

Natalie gave her an innocent look, "Nothing happened, what are you talking about." she said to her with a hidden smirk.

"Oh come on," Keller said to her with a look. "Something definitely happened last night, we can tell from the grin that has been on your face for most of breakfast." she said and pinched Natalie's cheek.

That made Natalie give Keller an annoyed look and push her hand away from her face, "So something may have happened between me and Ronon last night." she said to them.

"Soooo," Emilia said leaning forward a bit. "How was the sex?" she asked bluntly.

Keller gave Emilia a look, "Don't you think you should ask that in a less public area?" she asked/stated.

Hearing that Emilia looked at Keller and then at Natalie before nodding her head in agreement, "Right, come on let's go." she said and grabbed Natalie's hand and walked out of the mess hall, leaving their trays where they were at. Keller shook her head at Emilia's excitement and stood up and threw away their trays and then followed the two.

- - - - N&R - - - -

"So?" Emilia said looking at Natalie expectantly, she ended up dragging Natalie and Keller to the reading room where no one really went to very often.

Natalie gave her a look, "So...what?" she asked as she flopped down into one of the chairs, her legs hanging off of one of the arms of the chair.

Emilia sighed, "Come on, tell us how was your night? More importantly how was the sex with your manly beast?" she asked wit ha waggle of her eye brows.

"The dinner was great," Natalie said with a smile. "He made me a true Satedan meal, from what the mainland had at least. Have no idea what it was that he made me but it tasted amazing. I would so eat it again. No questions asked." she said.

"What else?" Keller asked.

"Well," Natalie said. "Once we finished eating he gave me my gifts. He gave me a new jacket since my last one died when we were dealing with Altozia." she said with a cringe on her face at the memory of the man that tortured her. "He also gave me a bracelet that's made out of wraith bone." she said and held up her wrist that had said bracelet on it.

Both Emilia and Keller looked at the bracelet with odd faces, "It's, nice." Keller said not sure how to respond to that, Keller wasn't into having a bracelet made by her significant other out of wraith that he had killed it was just a little too morbid for her.

"What about the sex?" Emilia asked impatiently.

"It was great, perfect, better than any I've ever had before and felt more satisfied then I have by any of my other relationships that had worked up to the physical level." Natalie said and smiled serenely.

Keller looked at Natalie and then at Emilia, "She's a definitely goner."

"Oh yeah," Emilia said dragging the sentence out and nodding in agreement.

"Shut up, when you two get boyfriends you'll be in the same boat as me." Natalie said and then smirked at Emilia. "Though I think Emilia is close to that point right now with a certain Evan Lorne."

Keller laughed at that, "I think this calls for another girls night." she said and looked between Natalie and Emilia.

Natalie nodded in agreement, "Yeah but lets wait until Teyla gets back that way she can get in on the fun." she said to them.

Soon after that Keller was called back to the infirmary, there was a problem going on with one of her patients. Since Natalie and Emilia didn't have any missions to go on in the next couple of days they decided to go and work out in the gym for a while, it's one of the few things that there is to pass the time not to mention the few things that there are to do on Atlantis gets boring after a while.

A/N: please review i always appreciate them. Smooches sweethearts!


	30. Bludgeoning Stick

Disclaimer: As always Ronon is sadly not mine, oh how i wish he was but nope. No hot sexy Satedan for me. POUT.

A/N: Review please. Thankyou.

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Chapter thirty

"You know," Natalie said looking at Ronon as she was blocking his hits. "You don't have to keep on bludgeoning me with a stick." she said to him with an annoyed look, the two finally got around to sparring against one and another after Ronon, Teyla, John and McKay were off world for nearly five days.

Ronon smirked at her, "I know," he said and hit her fighting stick hard with his own. "Just want to make sure that you get that I'm still not happy about you not telling me about you nearly getting killed on one of your missions." he told her with a look and ducked when Natalie swung her fighting stick straight at his head.

"I told you Ronon, me and you have got to tell each other when the other gets in danger when they go off world or else we'll be grr at each other all of the time for not doing so," Natalie said to him with a half growl and a half sigh of frustration, she kicked him away from her when he tried to hit her with his stick again and then the two started to circle one and another.

"Just trying to get my point across," Ronon said to her as if he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Natalie have him a dark look when he said that, "Point made Ronon," she said to him with a shake of her head. "Besides I don't have time to go over this all over again, I have a date in about fifteen minutes." she told him with an evil smirk on her face.

The second those words left Natalie's mouth Ronon threw down his fighting stick and pinned Natalie against the wall and pressed every inch of his body into her's, "WHAT!" he demanded of her with narrowed eyes.

"Don't worry Ronon, you're the only man for me," Natalie said to him as she gently caressed the side of his face. "I'm having a girls night with Emi, Keller and Teyla. Nothing for you to worry about." she said as she played with the hair of his beard.

Ronon gave her an unamused look, "Don't do that again," he told her seriously.

Natalie pushed his arms off of her shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm sorry Ronon, I didn't mean to piss you off. I was just joking around." she told him and kissed his neck apologetically, she slowly licked her way up to behind his ear and nibbled the skin a bit.

"Don't say things like that again," Ronon told her.

"I promise, never again." she said as she wrapped her hands around some of his dread's and pulled his face down towards her's and kissed him hard, in response to that Ronon tangled his fingers in the hair at the back of her head and pressed his mouth even harder onto hers.

Regretfully Natalie pulled away from Ronon, "I have to go Ronon," she said with a half smile on her face, showing him that she really didn't want to go but she had to – she had promised the girls a girl night and she couldn't back out now.

"Can't you ditch?" Ronon asked looking at her hopefully, running his calloused hand down her cheek. "I can make it worth your while."

Groaning Natalie shook her head, "I don't doubt that you could Ronon but I have to go with the girls tonight, I've bailed on them a few times with having girls night as it is. If I do it again they are gonna have my head on a platter." she told him sadly.

At that Ronon cocked his head to the side confused, "Head on a platter?" he questioned.

"Earth thing," she said waving his question off. "I'll explain it later. But I have to go Ronon. I really do." she said.

He smirked at her. "Are you sure that there's nothing I can do to sway you?" he asked her in his deep gravely voice that she loved so much and all but melted when she heard.

Taking a deep breath Natalie very hesitantly shook her head, "Nope. No matter how hard you try or how deep and sexy your voice gets I can not be swayed." she said refusing to look him in the eyes, his green eyes were her other weak point when it came to anything and everything that had to do with Ronon.

"If you say so," Ronon said smirking down at her, it was obvious from his tone of voice that he definitely did not believe her whatsoever.

Natalie looked up at him, "When girls night is finally done I promise to come over to your room for the night, hows that sound?" she asked him, looking at him with a grin on her face.

"Alright," Ronon said to her. "But if you don;t come after a while I'm coming to your room and breaking up girls night and stealing you for the rest of the night. Don't care what the others say." he said seriously.

Shaking her head at him Natalie smiled, "Okay Ronon, but I doubt that it will come to that. Like I could forget some sexy manly beast like you who will just be waiting in his room for me to come to him." she scoffed. "Hell I can barely resist you on a good day."

` ~ ` ~ ` ~ ` ~ - Girls Night - ` ~ ` ~ ` ~ ` ~

"So why exactly is this Buffy Summers fighting all of the time?" Teyla asked as she stared at the laptop that was playing the movie, the three girls were watching Buff the Vampire Slayer TV series.

Emilia looked over at her, "Because Teyla, she is the Chosen One. One girl in all the world with the power and speed to stop the evil that lurks in the world, the vampires, monsters and all other things that go bump in the night." she explained. "She's a super duper human. She has extra human strength, extra sensitive senses, shes more flexible then regular humans and she's just got more of everything really."

Teyla nodded and looked at the TV and watched as Buffy dusted another vampire, "The demons that the people of your world come up with are quite different then the creatures of this one." she said turning to look at Natalie, Emilia and Keller.

Natalie smirked when she said that, "There are tons more kinds of creatures out there and tons of different kinds of vampires, the Buffy verse is just one kind. There's Anne Rice version, the Hollywood one, Sookie Stackhouse, Twilight and way too many more for me to even begin to explain the differences to you." she stated.

"Though," Emilia said breaking into the conversation. "If you ever want to understand everything and anything about vampires Natalie here is the one to go to. She loves anything about vampires, werewolves, demons and things like that." she said looking at Natalie with a grin.

That made Natalie throw a pillow at her friend, "Hey now! You should have seen me in high school I was worse, much, much worse." she said. "Thank god I'm not so obsessed anymore."

Keller gave Natalie a look, "That's because you have other, much more interesting things to spend your time on. Or should I say a certain person to spend time with now." she said with a waggle of her eyebrows. "I'm sure Ronon is much more interesting then your vampire books that you have all over your room."

"No need to insult the books," Natalie said admonishing. "But, yeah it's very true that my books have not been taking up nearly as much time as Ronon has. Not that I'm complaining about that." she said with a half shrug.

"Like you could complain with a man like that," Emilia said nudging Natalie in the shoulder.

At that Teyla just smiled in amusement.

"So?" Keller asked looking at Natalie curiously.

"What?" Natalie asked innocently, feigning to know what she was talking about.

Teyla smiled, "I believe that we wish to know how your dinner with Ronon went," she said to her.

Natalie groaned, "Again?" she said looking at them pathetically.

"Yes!" Emilia said. "Teyla here wasn't able to hear about this yummy gossip so we have to do it once again." she stated matter of a factly.

"I am to assume that you and Ronon showed each other fully what you mean to one and another in more then just the emotional sense," Teyla said looking at Natalie. "You became very physical with one and another. Correct?" she asked looking at Natalie.

Natalie gave a small grin and nodded, "Yeah, yeah we did and it was absolutely amazing. He made dinner for me; he even dressed up in some of his nicer clothes as you saw, I never thought that he could look even better then he already does naturally." she said to her. "It was the most thrilling, wonderful, magnificent thing that I have ever experienced before in my life. I have never felt this much for one person before – at least dating wise I haven't. No man has ever made me feel this important, this loved and this needed before. Most men that I am with I end up scaring off."

"Why do you end up scaring them?" Teyla questioned. "Do men of your home planet not find you attractive? Because you are Natalie, you are very beautiful. By my people's standards or any people of the Pegasus galaxy."

At that the three Earth girls sighed, "people of Earth aren't so open minded." Emilia said. "To them a woman is supposed to look a certain way to be beautiful. They believe they should be big up here," she said gesturing to her breast area. "Small at the hips and probably not talk very much and just let the man do everything for her." she explained.

"Not to mention they don't like women to be into the weird things like I am," Natalie said bitterly. "Reason why a lot of my relationships didn't last."

"That is not fair or very realistic," Teyla said with a shake of her head.

Keller shook her head, "No it's not. But it's the truth. Not all Earth men are like that but quite a few are." she said.

A tense silence settled between the four girls, neither of them knowing what to say after that sad subject of talk so for a good fifteen or twenty minutes none of them said anything they just continued on watching Buffy. Natalie unable to take the uncomfortable silence spoke up finally, "Anyways, on a much happier note. Emilia sooo has a crush on Lorne and Keller has a thing for McKay that I think she has been keeping secret for quite a while now." she said waggling her eyebrows at the two girls.

"No need to bring us into this talk," Emilia said defending herself and Keller.

Both Teyla and Natalie smirked, "So you two do like them hmm?" Natalie asked.

"No."

"Maybe."

Keller and Emilia said exactly at the same time, Natalie smirked at them and crossed her arms giving them a knowing look. "Riiight, I almost believe that."

"Hey, I don't like Lorne like that," Emilia said defiantly.

Natalie shook her head, "I've seen the way you look at him Emilia, you can't trick me. You two are always staring at each other and plus I went to college for Sociology studying people are my thing."

"It is quite obvious when you two are near one and another that you feel something more then friendship," Teyla stated looking at Emilia with a soft smile on her face. "It is very sweet."

In response to that Emilia huffed, "I'm not the only one here who is crushing on someone." she said annoyed. "Keller here has the hots for Rodney for some odd reason."

At that Natalie smirked and looked at Keller, "Oh believe me I know. Keller dear, how long have you liked Rodney? I heard you were the one who helped Carson look at his ass when he got shot there." she said waggling her eyebrows at Keller. "Not to mention you actually listen to his science talk without getting bored, I think only people who understand him or have the hots for him can actually do that."

"Shut up," Keller said to her with a blush. "I don't like Rodney like that, I'm just friends with him." she said.

"You wish for more though," Teyla said looking at her thoughtfully. "It is very obvious for anyone to see, well anyone but Rodney to see that you like him more then just in the ways of friends."

Keller sighed, "Alright alright enough about mine and Emilia's love lives, what about you Teyla?" she asked her with a questioning look. "Anyone special from your home world or here on Atlantis? Any man that's managed to catch your interest?"

Teyla hesitantly shook her head, "There is no one that I am romantically involved with at this point in time." she said robotically.

"Oh come on Teyla," Emilia said smiling at her. "There is so someone that you are interested in. You've been going to New Athos more often then you usually do, who is there that you have a thing for?" she asked curiously.

Natalie smiled at Teyla, "What's his name?"

At that Teyla smiled, "Kanaan, if he wished it he could be the leader of the Athosian's but he has yet to realize that he has the ability to do so, he does not believe that he can be the leader that our people need." she said shaking her head sadly.

For another two hours or so the girls watched more Buffy episodes and talked about everything and anything that possibly came to mind; past and current relationships, their families, what they were like as kids, what the Earth girls missed the most from their homes but soon after that they were interrupted by Keller's radio going off.

"Dr. Keller please report to the infirmary immediately, Dr. Keller please report to the infirmary immediately."

Keller looked at the other three sadly, "Sorry girls I gotta cut this night short but I gotta answer that, I'm on call." she stated.

Teyla nodded, "It's fine Jennifer, we will talk to you tomorrow most likely." she told her understandingly.

"Alright, cool." Keller said and stood up. "See ya." she said and left.

Teyla and Emilia stood up soon after Keller left, "I should go as well Natalie, thank you for inviting me to girls night once again. These Earth customs and shows are very interesting to watch." Teyla said smiling at her.

"I'm happy you like it, I know our shows are kind of weird to you at first but they are still good nonetheless." Natalie said to her.

"I'm gonna head out too Nat," Emilia said and gave Natalie a hug good bye. "I'll see you tomorrow morning right?" she asked.

Natalie nodded, "Most definitely. We'll do breakfast?" she asked.

Emilia smiled at that, "Sure." she said and headed towards the door. "You gonna head over to Ronon's room now?" she asked.

When she said that Natalie smirked, "Maybe." she said, drawing the word out.

That made Emilia roll her eyes and shake her head, "Try not to be late to breakfast okay, I know Ronon is addicting and hot as hell to you but still he needs to understand friend time and that includes breakfast time once in a while. He can't keep you to himself all of the time you know." she said to Natalie with a pointed look and quickly left the room before Natalie could say anything in response to that.

The second that the girls left Natalie immediately began to get ready to leave and head over to Ronon's room for the night, this time though she was not going to head over there unprepared – she was bringing a bag of clothes with her to change into the next morning when she got up. Finishing up packing her small bag of clothes Natalie quickly left her room and headed in the direction of Ronon's room, she did after all, promise to see him once she was done with girls night.

- - - - - quote of the Day - - - - -

**Irish Diplomacy...** is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip.

A/N: Hope you all like this chapter, took me forever to get it up. As some of you may know i have over half the story written out i'm just well rewriting the original and tweaking it a bit. So hope you all like it.

A/N: Please review, i knwo it's hard ot do for some of you but i do like more then one review a chapter, i appreicate all of them and am open to idea's for the story so yeah come on and give me some reviews. I'm hopingfor more then one please.


	31. Earth Friends

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual hope its as good as some of the other chapters i've written so far. If there are any misspellings its bcuae i wrote the last half while i was somewhat drunk. i went out with my mom and relatives for a drink.

A/N: smocohes lovelies, i love you guys for reviewing and keep on doing it please it makes me happy to see reviews.

A/N: OH did i mention i reached 50 reviews the other day, yay!

Chapter thirty-one

"Took you long enough," Ronon said once his room door slid open and leaned against the door frame.

Natalie gave him a look and shifted her bag on her shoulder, "I can leave instead if you want," she suggested and acted like she was going to leave but before she could Ronon grabbed her arm lightly and pulled her into his room.

"No," Ronon said as he slid his hand over the sensor to close his room door. "You went to all the trouble to pack your bag and come over here. I think you're staying now whether you want to or not." he said to her as he grabbed her bag from her and tossed it over into one direction of the room.

"Oh really?" Natalie asked coyly. "And what's gonna make me stay?"

At that Ronon looked at her wolfishly, "Hmm, well I think I can find something to convince you to stay here for the night. I'm very convincing when I want to be." he told her as he slowly stalked towards her and grabbed her by the belt loops of her pants and pulled her flush up against him and stared down at her.

"An how is that?" she asked him as he hands slowly went under his shirt and slowly traced the rim of his pants, teasing the skin just above his pants.

He smirked at her, "Like this," he stated and grabbed her up by her thighs and lifted her up, in response to that Natalie wrapped her legs around his massively muscled waist, grabbed him by his dreadlocks and pulled him in for a kiss.

Ronon smiled into the kiss and let go of one of her legs and slowly began to train it upwards from her thigh, then under her shirt to her hips, then her waist, up to her ribs where he lightly traced them with his fingernails. Ronon broke the kiss and then slowly worked his way down from her lips, to her chin and then to her neck and he lightly sucked and nibbled on the skin there and then moved up to behind her ear and gave it the same treatment.

Natalie groaned at the sensation and arched her back and leaned back away from Ronon, so now her breasts were only a bit away from Ronon's face. With a grin Ronon leaned down and licked down her neck until he reached her breasts, nibbling above the hem of her shirt and at the swell of her breasts.

At that Natalie gasped and leaned back up and wrapped her arms tightly around Ronon's neck and rested her chin on his shoulder, "Bed, now." she said breathlessly.

In response to that Ronon grabbed Natalie more securely around her waist and walked over to the bed and fell onto it, her falling on top of him and straddling his waist. Natalie smiled down at him and leaned down and tugged at the bottom of his shirt and raised a brow at him, hinting at him to sit up so she could take his shirt off.

"You're in a hurry," Ronon stated with a laugh as he let Natalie take his shirt off and laid back down against the bedspread.

Natalie threw his shirt away from the bed and looked down at him, "What? You want me to slow down?" she asked.

"Never," Ronon said.

"Good, because I wasn't going to listen to you even if you told me to Ronon," Natalie told him and slowly ran her hands up his muscled abs, to his chest and massaged his neck a bit.

Leaning over him, Natalie slowly started to kiss his stomach, circling her tongue around his belly button and then slowly licking her way up towards his chest. Reaching his chest area, she ran her hands up and down one side of his chest and slowly circled her fingers around his nipple. Leaning down Natalie licked the one nipple that her hands wasn't circling, she smiled to herself when she heard him inhale deeply.

"Enough," Ronon said roughly and sat up and grabbed her shirt and pulled it off of her, he grabbed her by the side of her face and kissed her hard, he flipped their positions so that now Natalie was laying underneath him this time.

"Ronon," Natalie begged as she wrapped her legs around Ronon's waist and ground herself against him. "please." she begged looking up into his eyes pleadingly.

He looked down at her and then grinned wider when he saw what she was wearing, "I like these bra's that you have, they are very enticing." Ronon said as he traced the bra that was leopard print.

Natalie laughed at that, "My underwear match." she said with a waggle of eyebrows.

"Let's find out if that's true," he said as he grabbed her by the hips and set up up higher and then he knelt between her legs and made quick work of her pants, tossing them in the direction of where their pile of clothes were. "Well look at that, they do." he said huskily.

Staring at him determinedly Natalie waggled her eyebrows at him, "Pants, off now." she said, as she grabbed at the obvious erection and tugged on the front of his pants to get them off faster.

Tugging off the last remaining clothing that he had Ronon grinned at Natalie and just stared; he stared at how beautiful, wonderful, amazing and enticing she looked. Natalie was amazing, both in body and otherwise and she was all his.

"What?" Natalie asked looking up at him.

Ronon smirked, "You, you're so amazing. Sexy, and strong. You are all woman and I love it." he said to her.

Natalie gave him a look, "You're only saying that because I'm wearing printed bra and underwear." she said smirking.

He laughed at that, "That does help but it's you that I find amazing." Ronon said to her as he reached up and unhooked her bra and threw it away from them. "I may like these odd underthings from your home but it's these that I love the most." he said to her and cupped her breasts and teased her nipples.

Groaning Natalie pushed Ronon away from her and quickly shed herself of her underwear and then flipped over and straddled Ronon once again, their lower parts pressing closely against each other.

"I love being on top of you," Natalie said smirking and leaning down and kissed Ronon passionately while slowly rocking herself against him, teasing him.

Ronon gave a groan/growl and kneaded her hips, "Stop teasing me Natalie, neither of us will last and you know it."

Giving in Natalie lifted herself a bit and grabbed the base of Ronon's erection and slowly guided herself onto him, she groaned loudly and just stayed still for a moment adjusting to feeling Ronon inside her once again. Ronon got a bit impatient with her not moving and bucked his hips up to her's, at that Natalie got the hint and slowly lifted herself before going down on him slowly once again – it was slow and torturous but very sensual feeling.

"Not sweet girl, that's not gonna do." Ronon said and grabbed her hips firmly and lifted her up and then slammed her down on himself.

Natalie leaned back a bit and steadied herself by gripping onto the bed and met Ronon thrust for thrust, gyrating herself against him and rotating her hips when he thrust up into her. Ronon grabbed on of her legs and lifted it up a bit so that he could hit a new spot, Natalie moaned loudly when she felt him hit deeper inside of her.

"God," Natalie groaned.

For the rest of the night the two enjoyed each others bodies, pleasuring one and another and being with each other to the fullest that they possibly could. Each time that they were with one and another in the sexual sense it was just as good if not better than the last time they were together, their relationship was so intense and serious that it was hard for it not to be.

~ - ~ - ~ - Stargate Room - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

The newest group of people from Earth have just arrived on Atlantis about half an hour ago and now they were all in one big group in the Gate Room in front of Carter who was now addressing them and giving them a proper welcoming to Atlantis.

"Hello to all," Carter started as she looked out at the small crowd of people. "I am colonel Samantha Carter the leader of the Atlantis mission, I hope your trip here was pleasant." she said and smiled at the rest of the group. "Now to start things, this is the Gate Room," she said waving her hand towards the massive room and the ring that was just behind everyone. "if you are one of the people who will be going off world this is where you will be leaving from. The mission of the people on Atlantis is to be peaceful and learn about the other places in the galaxy, trading is a very important part of our existence here, if we had no one to trade with we would not survive believe me. We are also here to help defend the people of the Pegasus galaxy and help them in anyway possible; be it from other planets or people here trying to hurt them or from the wraith.

Carter paused a moment before continuing, "I warn you, that you will be in danger while here, there is no doubt about that but we will do everything in our power to keep the people of Atlantis as safe as can be. Those of you who have not been trained in fighting, combat or in using weapons before you should look into finding someone to teach you, it will come in use while you are staying here; don't become a statistic, learn how to protect yourselves." she told them seriously.

John spoke up at that time, "If you don't know who to ask just go to the gym, someone who's in there should be able to tell you who is willing to teach you guys how to fight and also three times a month we have a few of the most skilled fighters that are on base teach fighting classes for about two hours. I'm sure if you ask one of them nicely that they will be more then willing to help." he told them with a cheeky smile. "The days when they are having the classes are posted in the gym."

"Right," Carter said turning back to the group. "Anyways, you all were chosen for a reason and you all know why; some of you may be scientist, some fighters, some may be great with computes, or plants or something like that but for whatever reason you were chosen you still need to follow the rules that have been laid at this here base." she said looking at them seriously. "IF you disobey, hurt, or just do something that is definitely not something that you should be doing I will not hesitate in sending you straight back to Stargate Command. And I will be sure that they know exactly the reason why you were sent back and what the severity of what you did was, then they can choose what is the right punishment for you."

John shook his head when Carter said that, "No need to scare the fresh meat right off the bat," he said to her, half joking and half serious.

Carter rolled her eyes at that, "I will be putting you all into groups; these fine people behind me will be the ones who will be showing you around Atlantis, showing you where the main places that you will be frequenting are at, where your rooms are located at and just telling you interesting little tidbits about our home here really." she told them with a welcoming smile and then gestured behind her.

"These are the people who are helping with orientation for you guys," she stated. "Over here is Colonel Lt. John Sheppard, then we have Rodney McKay who is in charge of the computer research here on Atlantis, then we have Radek Zelenka who is a computer specialist as well, then there is Carson Beckett who is the head doctor in the infirmary, then lastly we have Na-"

Carter was interrupted by Rodney coughing loudly, "She's not here yet, probably with the cave man still." he said with a shake of his head.

At that Carter sighed, "Well our last person seems to be running a bit late but we will introduce you to her when she finally get's here, lets hope that's soonish." she said rolling her eyes, she should have figured that Natalie would be late, her and Ronon have been attached by the hip lately.

Continuing Carter looked down at her sheet that hes had in her hand, "I will say your name and the person who will be your group leader so to say, once I do that go and stand in front of that person. When we are done they will start with showing you around Atlantis." Carter said and started to read names off of the list.

-`-`-` Ronon's room -` -` -` -` -` -`

Natalie woke up the next morning to the sensation of someone running their fingers up and down her bare back, smiling to herself she shifted her shoulders around a bit and wrapped her arms around the pillow that she was laying on enjoying what Ronon was doing to her back.

"Morning," Ronon said to her as he leaned down and kissed the middle of her back, right between her shoulder blades.

"Mmm, morning." Natalie stated still with her eyes closed. "I could get used to waking up like this." she said as Ronon continued tracing his fingers up and down her back.

Ronon gave a slight chuckled, "I love waking up to a sexy naked woman in my bed," he said to her deeply and rubbed his face along the length of her back, his beard tickling her a bit. "I could live the rest of my life like that and be happy."

At that Natalie smiled to herself, "What time is it?" she asked him.

She felt him shrug, "Not a damn idea." he said to her.

Sighing Natalie rolled over and grabbed for her watch that she had put on the ground the night before, finally reaching it her eyes widened in shock when she realized what time it was.

"Shit!" Natalie hissed and quickly jumped out of bed and started looking for her under clothes, once she found them she quickly pulled the leopard print bra and underwear on and then dug through her bag and threw on her usual pair of pants and then began to search for her other things.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Ronon asked from his position on the bed, Natalie was trying to refrain from looking at his naked form while she was looking around the room.

Natalie threw Ronon's pants at him and then grabbed her weapons belt that was under the said pants and quickly strapped it to herself, "I promised Carter I would help her with orientation today, we're getting a new batch of people in and I'm late for introductions." she said annoyed at herself for being late, she liked to pride herself on being early to important things more times then not.

Quickly slipping on a tank top that she had packed, Natalie then grabbed Ronon's long sleeved loose fitted v neck peasant style shirt and slipped it on – she loved being able to smell him anytime that she wanted to.

"That's my shirt," Ronon said staring at her oddly.

Natalie shrugged when he said that, "Not anymore, it looks better on me anyways." she said to him teasingly and then grabbed her small machete and strapped it onto her weapons belt, leaning down towards Ronon Natalie quickly kissed him. "Gotta go bye," she said and gave his body a once over and waggled her eyebrows at him and then left his room heading in the direction of the Stargate Room.

Natalie made it to the Stargate Room in record time, she had a few mishaps as she was running down the hallways towards the Stargate Room and only got yelled and fell a few times but in all, she made it there in ten minutes give or take a few. The moment that Natalie stepped foot into the Stargate Room Carter had only just gotten done putting people into groups, when Carter saw her she gave Natalie a knowing look.

"Alright our last person has finally arrived," Carter said giving Natalie a small smile. "This is Natalie Vance, she is our resident Weapon Specialist, Natalie this is your group." she said and handed Natalie a clipboard with papers on it – they were files of the people who were in her group and where their rooms were.

Once Carter left John looked over at Natalie slyly, "Late night with Chewie?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

At that Natalie scowled, "Don't make be power burst your ass john," she said and tapped the side of her massive gun, smaller then Ronon's but bigger then normal hand guns.

"No need to be violent," John said raising his hands up in innocence and then he turned to his group and stage whispered, "One thing you all need to know if you want to survive here is that you never, ever want to piss her or Ronon Dex off, you won't survive that encounter." he said to them theatrically.

Before Natalie was able to reply to that John and his group of people left, leaving Natalie standing mostly alone in the Stargate Room with her group to show around Atlantis. "Okay the, as Carter Said I'm Natalie Vance but I have no idea what any of your names are so I think introductions would be nice right now," she said to them and looked at them expectantly.

"Matt Deitrich."

"Liam Moore."

"Alexei Aliyeva."

"Marianna Gutierrez-Santiago."

"Xander Sykes."

"Becky Erdman."

When Natalie heard the last name uttered she looked up and stared at the person, she couldn't believe her eyes there standing not five feet from her was one of her best friends from Earth that she hasn't seen in nearly four years.

"Becky?" Natalie asked staring at her friend. "Is that really you?" she asked slowly walking towards her.

Becky grinned at her, "Who else would it be?" she asked and walked over to Natalie and wrapped her in a hug. "God I've missed you. Look at you, you look great."

"So do you," Natalie said stepping back from Becky a bit. "Sorry I couldn't tell you about this before but yeah, they're big on the whole no telling anyone ever." she said to her friend with a shrug.

Just as Becky was about to say something in response to that one of the guys, Matt, cleared their throats and crossed their arms, "As nice as this whole reunion thing is, don't you think that you should maybe show us around and show us where our rooms are?" he asked her rudely.

Natalie stared at him with a cocked eye brow, "You know you are very lucky that I am in a good mood today," she said to him and then turned around and motioned for them to follow her around.

So with that said Natalie began to show her group of new Atlantean's around the base, explaining what certain things did, how to use the transporters and their ear comm's, what the purpose of the ZPM's and some of the other items on Atlantis was and how they helped Atlantis work properly. She lead the group to the Biology room, Plant room and the control room and where the Mess Hall was at.

"Well everyone, this is the infirmary and if you are on a team where you go off world a lot you will be coming here quite often," Natalie said as she gestured to a door to the right and a few feet in front of her and her group. "We have the best doctors here but the two best one's here are Dr. Carson Beckett who is probably still showing his group around, and then of course Dr. Jennifer Keller. If anything happens to you guys they will be able to get you fixed up." she said to them and waved as Keller walked past the open doorway where Natalie was walking past.

Matt smirked at Natalie, "I'd let you fix me up any day, anytime. Hell I will fix you up if you want me to." he said looking Natalie up and down.

Before Natalie was able to yell at the guy for being a pervert and an ass hole a very strong and muscled arm grabbed Matt by the beck and pushed him up against the wall. Natalie sighed heavily when she saw that it was Ronon who was holding the kid by the neck, she knew that he wouldn't stay away from her very long when she left for the Gate Room but she didn't think that he would actually follow her.

"Ronon come on, leave him alone and let him go," Natalie stated and pulled on Ronon's arm half heartedly, she wont let Ronon kill the boy but she wouldn't mind letting him scare him a bit. "He's a new guy and doesn't know anything yet."

Ronon still didn't move, he just squeezed the guys neck even harder.

Natalie growled at him, "Ronon Dex! Let him go now," she demanded with her hands on her hips while staring up at him challengingly.

Ronon took a deep breath and let go of Matt and then stared at Natalie for a few moments, giving her a look saying that he would do that again if he thought it was appropriate – no one hit on his woman.

Once Natalie was sure that Ronon wasn't going to attack Matt again she turned and glared at the guy, "Alright Matt, look here I'm not into people hitting on me like that and treating me like I would be lucky to know someone like you. So don't do that or say something like that ever again, especially not with my boyfriend following me." she said and gave Ronon a look for doing that, she then turned back towards the boy Matt. "If I hear you bother someone like that again I will not hesitate to kick your ass and take your dick off and shove it down your throat, learn how to properly flirt not be an ass." she told him.

Matt just nodded in understanding, he didn't want to piss Natalie or Ronon off not to mention both of them had a big ass gun attached to their weapons belt. Then of course, Ronon was really big, really tall and really muscled so Matt would probably end up getting himself killed rather then winning in a fight against Ronon.

"Great," Natalie said looking between Ronon and Matt. "Glad we got that all figured out." she said with a fake smile, she then turned towards Ronon with a knowing look. "Seriously?"

He just shrugged at her, "What? He deserved it and you know it." he told her flippantly.

That made Natalie shake her head at him, "Whatever, I'll talk to you later." she said shaking her head at him.

"Oh," Ronon said turning towards Natalie. "My shirt does look better on you then me," he said with a smirk and bent down for a quick kiss before leaving Natalie and her group.

When Natalie was sure that he had left she continued on showing her group around Atlantis, pointing out good places to go to get a little down time and showing them where the Gym was if they wanted to do a bit of sparring or working out. Finally Natalie was done with orientation and had showed them each where their rooms were located at, before Natalie had left she told Becky that she would stop by later or see her at lunch to talk and catch up.

` ` - ` - ` - N&R ` - ` - `

Quote of the day: **A husband and wife were trying to set up a new password for their computer. Her husband put 'mypenis' and the wife fell on the ground laughing cause it said, "Error. Not long enough."**


	32. Natalie, Goth?

Disclaimer: as usual Ronon is not mine, no matter how much i wish he was. Hope you guys like this chapter

A/N: REVIEWERS! I know you are reading my story and some of you have been reviewing my story and i love you guys, you are awesome but the other peole that i see reading it would be nice if you at least gave me a review every few chapters at the least. I really would appreciate it.

Chapter thirty-two

Once Natalie was done with orientation and showing everyone to where their rooms were she decided to head back around and go help Becky settle in and unpack the things that she brought with her from Earth. Plus the two had a lot of catching up to do, it's been nearly four years since they've seen each other face to face – maybe even longer considering the two weren't really able to see each other much when they did live in the same galaxy and state.

"So," Natalie started as she was helping Becky put some of her things away. "Tell me what's been going on? Any boyfriends, kids? Anything like that at all?" she asked her friend curiously.

Becky laughed at Natalie's excitement, "No, no boyfriend. At least not anymore." she said with a sad shake of her head.

At that Natalie looked at her friend curiously, "You did though?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did for a while. We got engaged even and had everything planned out bought, hell I was in my dress and walking down the aisle when I realized I couldn't marry him, not after everything he did to me and put me through." Becky said thoughtfully.

"Why did you leave him?" Natalie asked in concern.

When she said that Becky laughed humorlessly, "He cheated on me, more then once and he only admitted it a week before the wedding. But he promised to never do it again, that it was an accident." she shook her head. "Yeah him just falling into my friend Ashley was an accident. Anyways, I realized as I was walking down the aisle that if I wasn't enough for him to stay loyal too then he wasn't worth my time, so I left."

"Ass hole," Natalia said shaking her head. "Why didn't you tell me, or well I guess write to me and let me know?" she asked her. "I mean I know it was hard to get a hold of me but you could have gave something to my family and they would have gotten it to me; may have taken a while but they would have made sure I got it."

To Natalie her friend and family were very important to her, and finding out that one of her friends were in pain and was hurt by someone while Natalie herself was gone made her angry. Even if she couldn't have done anything from Atlantis she'd do what she could to help her friend, listen to her vent, tell Becky of all of the ways she could kill and or maim her ex or anything really like that.

Becky smiled, "It's fine Natalie, really I've gotten over that and now I am ready for a new adventure here in Atlantis." she said with confidence.

"Good," Natalie said pushing her long curly hair over her shoulder. "Because you are gonna get tons of opportunities for that here on Atlantis, there's never a boring day here."

"Now," Becky stated sitting on her bed and looking at Natalie expectantly. "What about you? Are you married yet?" she asked with a waggle of her eyebrows. "Like to that fuck hot sexy man with the dreadlocks?"

Hearing that Natalie nearly laughed, "You never used to talk like that when I was on Earth, what the hell happened to you?" she asked with a joking smile.

"Grew out of my ways," she answered flippantly. "Now tell me about the hot sexy man, how long have you two been together?" she asked and looked at Natalie with interest.

"His name's Ronon," Natalie started and grinned to herself just thinking about Ronon. "He's from Sateda, a planet here in the Pegasus Galaxy. He and I have only been going out for a few months now, give or take a few."

At that Becky looked at her in shock, "Seriously? Only a few months?" she asked and Natalie nodded in confirmation. "Wow, that's surprising. From what I saw of you two earlier it looks as if you guys have been together for a couple years rather then only a few months. You guys are really intense." she told her.

Natalie smiled at that, "Yeah ever since we first got together things have been intense and very serious between us, it's amazing and great though. I wouldn't trade having what I have with Ronon for anything. I love him." she said to her friend.

"I'm happy for you, you deserve to have that Natalie, especially all the shit you went through with your other boyfriends." Becky told her, looking at her honestly.

That made Natalie smile, "Thanks Becky, really that means a lot to me." she said and then sighed. "Well Becky as fun as hanging out here in your room and talking is I think we should go and get some food and introduce you to some other people other then just me." she said and stared at Becky. "What do you say? Wanna come?"

Becky looked at Natalie hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to interrupt her friend's lunch with her other friends. "I don't want to intrude or anything, I mean I'm new here whose to say that they want me to come." she stated.

At that Natalie gave Becky a look, "Seriously, you're my friend so thus you are allowed to come if I want you to. Besides they won't mind, so come on say you'll come." she begged giving Becky the puppy dog face and giving her a hopeful look.

Sighing Becky nodded in agreement, "Alright, alright I'll come just stop giving me that look. It's freaking me out." she said as she stood up from the bed and pulled Natalie up from it as well.

"Alrighty then," Natalie said with a smile. "Lets go get some food."

So with that said the two girls left Becky's room and headed towards the mess hall so that they could get some food to eat; Becky's long journey from Earth to Atlantis was worthy of getting much better food then what they served on Daedalus. Natalie was excited to introduce Becky to her other friends, she was pretty confident that Becky would get along great with Emilia and Keller; more so Keller then anyone else seeing as the two were so much alike it personality and just their general attitude really.

"So Natalie," John said looking at Natalie when she sat down and then at her friend. "So are you going to introduce us to your friend here or what?" he asked.

Natalie rolled her eyes at him from her spot besides Ronon but did as he asked, "This is my friend Becky Erdman, we went to school together back on Earth. Becky this is John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Emilia DeLuca, Ronon Dex and Evan Lorne." she said introducing them all to her friend. "Speaking of that, Lorne thank god you are back I was getting sick having to take on the whole leadership role. So not my thing." she said shaking her head.

That made Lorne laugh, "What you couldn't handle it or something?" he asked with a smile.

"Come on it's me we're talking about, I so could handle it but I don't like doing it. I like being the weapons/defender kind of person instead of the leader and negotiator." Natalie explained to him.

Becky glanced over at Natalie curiously, "I thought that you had your own team." she said coking her head to the side.

Ronon was the one who answered her unasked question, "Everyone whose on a team refers to it as their own team."

"Oh," Becky said quietly looking at Ronon and then quickly turning away and concentrating on her food, his intense stare making her a tad bit nervous.

For a while after that they all just talked, about everything and anything that came to mind; like what they were going to do over the next few days, any missions that either of the groups have been on or have to go on soon, asking Becky about her work in Biology and how she ended up landing a job in Atlantis.

Half way through eating lunch John and everyone else decided that they wanted to learn more about what Natalie was like as a kid, and seeing as Becky grew up with Natalie she was the perfect person to ask. Natalie has told them a few things about her when she was a kid but not everything, who wants to tell their good friends about the really embarrassing stories which are the ones that they really want to hear anyways.

"So our Natalie over here," John stared and glanced at Natalie and then back at Becky. "She was a goth kid?"

Becky smirked at Natalie and then nodded, "Yup, Natalie was a goth. She wore black everyday, did the whole pale face thing, wore dark and weird sort of make-up, wore combat boots a lot and looked like she was always pissed off. Thank god she's not like that anymore now." she said as she finished off the last bite of her food.

Before Natalie could respond to that McKay jumped into the conversation, "She looks like she's pissed off part of the time already." he said and cringed when he saw Natalie's glare being pointed at him.

"Ignore him," John said as he gestured McKay in the side hard. "He doesn't know what he's saying most of the time, at least when it has to do with people."

Lorne grinned and looked at Natalie, "I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you, you out of all people were a goth kid. You, you would just look terrible in all black, I mean I imagine it and it's just wrong." he said to her with a laugh. "Did you scare little kids all of the time too?"

Natalie glared at him when he said that and was about to respond to that when Becky interrupted, "If you believe it she actually worked in a daycare with me and three of our other high school friends, but instead of scaring the kids she actually scared a few people in our circle of friends." she said with a laugh.

"Only like two people," Natalie said and crossed her arms defiantly. "Holly and Andrea."

"The only reason they were afraid of you was because you went all ape shit on Holly," Becky said to her with a pointed look.

That made Natalie shrug, "Well maybe she shouldn't have pissed me off, then I wouldn't have gone off on her." she stated.

Ronon looked at her, "What did she do to piss you off?" he asked curiously.

"Can't remember, it was when I was thirteen or fourteen so it was a while ago." Natalie answered him. "But whatever she did pissed me off so much that I slammed her int one of the lockers and told her to stop being so damn annoying and to knock it off." she explained and slowly smirked when she remembered the face Holly made when she did that to her.

John looked between Natalie and Ronon and then shook his head in amusement, "It's no wonder why you two are attracted to one and another and get along so well; you both get violent when angry and annoyed with anyone." he said laughing to himself.

Ronon gave him a look, "You're about to have an annoyed and angry Satedan on your ass if you don't change the subject soon." he said to him challengingly.

"All right, geeze you guys are so sensitive." John said holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture.

Changing the subject John and the others continued to as Becky and Natalie about what it was like growing up back in Minnesota; what their family life was like, what some of their other friends back on Earth were like, what they went to college for – surprisingly Natalie went to school to be a counselor and she even has a Bachelors degree in it.

Soon after that Natalie and Ronon decided to leave the mess hall and go and spar for a while; they gotta keep in shape after all. Becky on the other hand, opted to stay in them mess hall and hang out with the others for a while and get to know them.

- ~ - ~ - ~ Gym - ~ - ~ - ~

"So?" Natalie asked from her panting position of laying on the ground of the gym, Ronon had just knocked her down with a particularly hard blow to the side.

Ronon looked down at her with a raised brow, "What?" he asked not sure what she was trying to get him to say.

Natalie sighed, "What do you think of my friend Becky?" she asked,

He just shrugged at that, "Don't know, she seems fine I guess." he said to her and looked down at her. "Why?"

She shrugged at that and sat up, "I just want you all to get along is all, she's been my friend since I was six years old give or take a few. I want you all to like her is all." Natalie told him with a half smile, the glint in her eyes were hinting that he better make the time to be sure that he got along with her life long friend.

"Are you going to get up or just lay there?" Ronon asked as he stared down at Natalie with an amused look on his face.

Natalie rolled her eyes at that, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on a minute will ya. You did basically knock my breath right out of me." she told him with a half smile, taking a deep breath Natalie flipped herself into a standing position and then brought her practice sword back up into a defensive position. "So do you promise to be nice and try and get to know her, at least somewhat?"

At that Ronon nodded, "Yeah I'll be nice and not scare her off, or at least try not to." he said to her with a serious look on his face and then took a swipe at her with his wooden sword.

Natalie quickly ducked down and barely missed the sword hitting her, "Good, that's all that I ask of you." she said and parried the blow that Ronon threw at her.

With that the two dropped all conversation about Natalie's friend Becky and instead they concentrated on their sparring session, both Ronon and Natalie could really get into the fights and forget about everything around them – resulting in them sparring for nearly an hour or more.

A/N: SURPRISE: Natalie's friend Becky: www. polyvore .com/wa_natalies_friend_becky/set?id=27446303


	33. Naked Radio

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual

A/N: Okay so do you people actually like this story becuase i see tons of readers but not many reviewers i really would appreicate it if more of you guys reviewed please and gave me some idea's maybe. please!1

Chapter thirty-three

Over the next month or so things on Atlantis went on as usual, or at least as usual as things can get for people on Atlantis. People went off world on missions, the wraith were still a threat to most of everyone in the Pegasus Galaxy, the people of Atlantis were helping people from all of the other planets and of course, they were exploring all of the planets that were in the galaxy that they have yet to go to.

Becky is all settled in and getting into the hang of things on Atlantis; she can now navigate herself around the place without getting lost and asking the Control Room to help her get to where she was meaning to go in the first place.

Natalie and Ronon were still going strong, still very intense and physical with their relationship though considering how both Natalie and Ronon were in personalities all you could expect from them was a intense relationship. A few times they got a bit too intense while they were heading to their rooms and made a pit stop in the weapons bay or possibly the gym – they've only been caught a few times in a compromising position. Rodney was one of the few unlucky people who caught them in the act, he could barely look either in the face for days afterward.

"So," Natalie said from her naked position atop of Ronon. "I have something to tell you, or rather ask and or suggest." she said as she traced designs up and down Ronon's naked torso.

He stared up at her and ran his hands through her hair, he loved the feeling her her curly hair under his fingers, "Yeah, and what's that exactly?" he asked her raising a brow at her.

Taking a deep breath Natalie looked at Ronon, "Promise me first, that you wont get angry or upset at me." she told him seriously.

"Why would I get angry?" he asked her. "You aren't thinking of leaving or something are you?" he asked.

At that Natalie shook her head, "No, I'm not leaving." she told him and then looked down at him intently. "You wont get angry?" she insisted.

Ronon shook his head, "No, now tell me what's going on?" he asked her.

"Well," Natalie started looking away from him and concentrating on tracing designs on his skin. "I've been thinking about this quite a bit for the last few weeks that maybe you and I should get a shared room." she glanced up at him quickly and then back down. "I mean it would make more sense, we're always in each others rooms all of the time, barely spend any time apart unless we have to and have belongings in each others rooms. Plus if we had a shared room we wouldn't have to have a schedule for when we spend one night in the others room and whatnot."

For a few moments Ronon said nothing, just continued to run his hands through Natalie's hair and stare out across the room as if he was daydreaming. After a few minutes passed Natalie was getting a bit antsy and nervous about what his answer would be.

"So?" Natalie asked as she tugged lightly on one of Ronon's dreadlocks. "Are you game or what? I mean I know it's kind of sudden in our relationship, at least for what normal couples would do but I figured nothing about us is really all that normal so yeah. I mean tell me if it's a bad idea and we can forget all about it, but I just thought it would be easier on us and-"

Before Natalie was able to finish that statement Ronon pulled her down towards him and kissed her passionately, he moved his arms from her hair down her back to her waist and pulled her even more fully against him. He rolled them over so that he was on top instead of Natalie, he then straddled her waist and held her hands up above her head and slowly kissed her from her lips, down to her chin, then her neck, down the column of her throat, to her collar bone and between her breasts and just as he was above to move to one of her breasts his ear comm radio went off.

Growling in annoyance Ronon let go of Natalie's arms and grabbed his ear comm and put it in, "What?" he grunted.

John laughed, "Awe did I interrupt yours and Natalie's sex time?" he asked.

Ronon scowled, "What do you need Sheppard?" he asked again and had to hold back a half groan and half moan when Natalie trailed her fingers down his chest and to his member and wrapped her hand around it and squeezed and then started pumping it.

"I did didn't I?" John said again. "Well Chewie I'm sorry to say but you are gonna have to have fun in the bedroom later, get your ass out of bed and dressed and head down to the locker room we're leaving off world in twenty. Carter wants us to go to one of the planets and help them beat off some raiders that are getting particularly nasty. So hurry up." he said and then clicked off of the radio.

"Damn it woman," Ronon said grabbing Natalie's hands and stopping her movement. "Are you trying to kill me here?" he asked her as he pinned her arms above her head once again.

Natalie gave him a coy smile, "I just wanted to have some fun while you were talking is all, besides it looked so lonely and sad there, standing at attention and not being attended to."

Ronon took a deep calming breath, "You are going to have to save that for when I get back, I have to go off world." he said and leaned down and gave her a soft kiss and whispered in her ear. "But when I get back we will have our own room, just be sure to talk to Carter about it."

Natalie grinned at him, "Consider it done." she told him and laid back in bed.

Regretfully Ronon got up and out of bed and started to get dressed, the whole time knowing that Natalie was watching every move he made – not that he minded he knew that Natalie loved seeing his naked form and not just when they were having sex but when they were just laying in bed and talking, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him.

"Are you sure you can't stay here and just fake sick to John?" Natalie asked him with a pout on her face as she sat up in bed a bit, she waggled her eyes at Ronon a bit and cupped her own naked breast and gave him an inviting look.

At that Ronon did moan, "No, I can't Natalie. I want to so badly but I can't. I have to go and help him with the raiders." he said to her. "I'll be back soon, I promise." he said and leaned down to kiss her.

"Be careful," Natalie said as she leaned up and caressed the side of his face, fingering his beard.

He smirked at her, "Nothing is gonna happen to me, I can take it. Don't worry." he said to her.

Natalie gave him a pointed look, "I mean it Ronon, you may be the strongest guy here in Atlantis but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't still be careful. So you better listen to me or else your ass is mine." she said to him seriously.

"I'll come back," he said looking at her seriously and then kissed her on her temples. "I love you." he said and then strapped on his weapons belt.

"I love you too," Natalie said and watched as he left his room to go and meet John.

Sighing to herself Natalie flopped back down onto Ronon's bed and grabbed his blanket and inhaled Ronon's scent that permeated from the blanket and pillows, she could smell his scent all day long and not get bored. He was intoxicating.

Finally getting up and out of bed Natalie put on her normal everyday clothes and decided to go and hunt down some people that she knew; her team had just gotten back from a mission late last night so they had a day break unless something big came up. After looking around at some of the usual places her friends were at Natalie decided to try the gym, when there's nothing around Atlantis to do that was the place that Lorne or Emilia went – gotta keep your strength up after all.

The first thing Natalie saw as she walked into the gym was Becky being knocked onto the mat, her fighting stick going flying in her direction and hitting her boots. Smiling to herself Natalie bent and picked it up and headed over to Emilia, Lorne and Becky; the lastly getting her ass beat badly.

"Having fun guys?" she asked with a raised brow as she slung the fighting stick across the back of her neck and grabbed onto it with her other hand.

At that Becky narrowed her eyes at Natalie, "No, does it look like I'm having fun. I'm getting knocked onto the mat more then I am landing blows." she huffed at her friend. "So no, Natalie I am not having a fun time."

"Touchy, touchy." Natalie said in a teasing manner. "What's wrong, other then the whole getting knocked on your ass most of the time." Natalie knew why Becky was angry, she was used to picking everything up so easily like she did in high school and college but now trying to learn to fight for the first time wasn't coming as easily as everything else has for her.

Becky sighed, "Well one I completely suck at this," she said and gestured to the gym. "And two I don't like fighting, I am not a violent person and I don't see the point of learning to fight. I'm a god damn biologist there is no reason for me to need to learn to fight or to have to fight ever." she said to them.

Lorne looked at Becky, "You might not like violence very often but you're on Atlantis now, we don't just go to where the violence is it come's here to Atlantis sometimes. You need to learn to fight so you know how to defend yourself if the time comes for it to happen."

"But what is the likelihood that it will happen?" Becky asked staring at them.

"Very high," Emilia, Natalie and Lorne all said at the same time.

At that Becky sighed heavily, "So what you are saying is I should learn how to fight no matter what?" she asked sadly.

Emilia nodded, "Yup, no choice here."

"Besides," Natalie said staring at her friend. "You have to learn one way or another, Carter enforces that rule more then anything. Everyone on base must know how to defend themselves." she told her. "You can't lie to her either, she will follow up and check with the person you said you have been practicing with. So...no getting around that."

Hearing that Becky sighed loudly, "Well shit," she said unhappily.

Laughing at her friend's statement Natalie grabbed the fighting stick that Emilia had and handed it to Becky, Lorne and Emilia moved over to the side of the mat to watch what was going to go on.

"What's this for?" Becky asked staring at Natalie.

"You, Becky are going to spar against me," Natalie told her as if it should have been obvious.

Becky just stared at Natalie when she said that, "I'm going to die though, you can fight, you've been fighting for years. You could kill me." she said to her, shaking her head.

Sighing Natalie shook her head, "Yes I could if we were doing the whole life or death kind of fight but we aren't. I'm gonna go easy on you don't worry."

"You might as well just push me onto the floor now," Becky said dejectedly. "Like I said earlier, I suck majorly."

Natalie gave Becky a sympathetic look, "Becky we all start out badly, I sucked terribly at fighting when I first started taking self defense. Seriously, some days when I came home from a lesson I thought I was going to be one major bruise for the rest of my life, so believe me when I say it takes practice to get better."

Taking a deep breath Becky looked at Natalie, "Fine, lets get this torture filled fest over with." she said unenthusiastically.

"Oh stop being so dramatic," Emilia said from the side lines, in response to that Becky just stuck her tongue out.

Shaking her head Natalie hit Becky's fighting stick with her's to get her attention, "Alright, Becky I want you to try and block the hits and blows that I send you when I attack, okay." she said looking at her friend.

"Are you sure I have to do this?" Becky asked once again.

Natalie nodded her head, "Yes, now you may end up feeling a bit sore and being in pain a bit after this but it's worth it. Just remember that." she said and took up a fighting stance and gestured for Becky to do the same.

With that said Natalie attacked Becky; for a while after that Natalie would attack Becky and then Emilia, Lorne and Natalie would correct what Becky did tell her what she did right and gave her some pointers in self defense and fighting in general. Sure Becky isn't going to be the next big thing to hit Atlantis but she will be sufficient enough at fighting to defend herself when need be, or at least until she could scream for help or hurt the opponent enough to startle them and run away to get help. It's better to know a bit self defense then none whatsoever.

A/N: Not mine as usual, have you all been looking at my polyvore things i put up, do you like the pictures and shit that i create for you all? It takes a while to acutally make those things you know and to find the right stuff that i would like on my characters.


	34. Distraught

Disclaimer: As usual not mine, though i so would love to have Ronon and just tie him to my bed and ride him or play with him or really do anything with him.

A/N: Thank you reviewers I'm so happy that more of you are reviewing now, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you guys sooooo much for doing that you have no idea.

So Thanks to these guys for reviewing more then once:

insanekittie19  
Ted.  
sandradee27  
lanteanscribe  
OceanSapphire

Chapter thirty-four

"God fucking damn it!" Emilia screeched in annoyance as she swatted once again at another bug that was trying to bite her. "Seriously guys, did Carter really have to send us on one of these crappy ass missions. I mean seriously, we've been working together for years shouldn't one of the other teams be doing things like this?" she asked. "I mean come on, sending us to a planet that is filled with nearly nothing but swamp, that;s just plain torture."

Lorne laughed at his friend's annoyance, "Maybe she's punishing us." he said with a shrug as he scanned through the swamps and tree's – you never know when you might get attacked, he's learned from that time with Altozia.

Gibson grunted as he swatted at yet another bug, "Punishing us for what?" he asked.

At that comment both Emilia and Lorne looked behind at Natalie, "Because a certain someone was caught having sex in one of the balconies by Carter, when a certain someone knew that they should have used their bedroom instead." Emilia said giving Natalie a pointed look.

"That was only one time," Natalie said, defending herself and Ronon. "One time that me and Ronon couldn't wait to tear each others clothes off so we used a balcony. Who was I to know that one specific balcony was Carter's favorite one to get some down time." she said shrugging in a 'what can you do' sort of way.

Gibson gave her a look, "From what I've heard you and Ronon have been caught on more the none occasion having sex in places that are not either of your bedrooms." he told her with a shit eating grin on his face. "Some of the guys in the weapons bay said that they got quite an eyeful of you and Ronon."

Natalie scowled when he said that, "So we're a bit more adventurous in where we have sex sometimes, not my fault people end up walking in on us at the most inopportune time." she said to them as if she wasn't doing anything wrong – because having sex in very public places is normal apparently.

"Okay," Lorne said with a sigh. "Can we change the subject because me talking about sex with a girl that is just like my sister is starting to gross me out a bit."

At that Natalie laughed, "I'm sure you'll be just like me when you find the right girl." she said giving him a meaningful look and then glancing at Emilia but said nothing else.

So with that said Lorne, Emilia, Natalie and Gibson continued on making their way out of the swampy land of the planet and towards the Star Gate so that they could get back home to Atlantis and tell Carter that the planet was a bust.

Natalie was hoping that when she got back that Ronon would be there, he's been gone for the last four days with John, Rodney and Teyla helping that one village with the raiders that have been attacking them for about a month or so and stealing their food and anything else that they seem to want. She didn't mind Ronon going off world on missions for a few days at a time, he ll shed id it a lot too and sometimes it was her leaving Ronon back on base for a few days while she was gone but hell, she was starting to miss Ronon something bad. If she didn't see him within the next few days she was going to go insane, thank god they were going to be sharing a room from now on.

"Natalie!" Gibson yelled at her for the second time in a row.

"What?" Natalie asked shaking her head from her daydream.

He gave her an amused smile, "Stop imagining Ronon naked, we're here." he told her and gestured to the gate that was a couple dozen feet in front of them.

_ # _ # _ # _

Stepping through the gate and back onto Atlantis all four of them gave a sigh of relief, the bug and swamp infested planet may have not bothered the guys much but it still wasn't very pleasant to have mud getting stuck in your boots or to have bugs attacking you every few seconds.

Carter was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when they arrived, "Welcome back," she said wit ha forced smile, from that one smile Natalie could immediately tell that something really bad happened while they were gone.

"Hey Colonel," Lorne said in greeting to her. "We-"

Before Lorne was able to finish that sentence Carter held her hand up for silence, "You can tell me all about what you found on the planet later Lorne, but right now why don't you all go up to your rooms and get cleaned up." she said to them with a half hearted smile.

Lorne, Emilia and Gibson wasted no time in leaving the Gate Room and heading towards their rooms to wash all of the muck off; Natalie though stayed behind and looked at Carter intently.

"Something happened." she stated rather then said.

At that Carter nodded at her sadly, "Yeah, come with me to my office." she said and didn't wait for a response and just walked up to her office expecting Natalie to just follow her.

Following Carter, Natalie sat down in the chair that was in front of her desk and looked at Carter with worry wondering what happened; something on Earth could have happened, her family could have gotten hurt or someone may have died in the family – there were just too many possibilities.

"What's going on Carter?" Natalie asked looking at her. "Did something happen to my family back on Earth, is it my sister or nieces? Did one of them get hurt? Did someone die?" she asked all in one breath.

"What?" Carter asked confused for a moment. "No, none of your family is hurt." she said immediately placating Natalie's worries about her family.

Hearing that Natalie leaned back and looked at Carter in confusion, "Then what's going on? I can tell something happened and you yourself said something happened so if it's not my family that's hurt or whatever then what is it?" she asked her.

This was the part of this conversation that Carter was dreading, telling her about what happened to Ronon. "Natalie, you see when John and them went on their mission there was an accident. It happened yesterday." she told her quietly.

"They, they're okay right?" Natalie asked not wanting to believe what Carter was hinting at to her. "I mean they all are okay right, no serious injuries or anything. They made it out of there fine right?" she asked, looking at her desperately.

Carter gave Natalie a sympathetic look, "Teyla, Rodney and John are fine. All Teyla had was a slightly injured leg nothing too serious." she said to her, side stepping what Natalie was silently asking her.

"R..Ronon?" Natalie asked her eyes already feeling like they were watering up, she blinked her eyes a few time to get rid of the tears. "Ronon, he's fine right? I mean he's not injured or... anything right?" she asked unable to say the word dead. "I mean he's Ronon after all, he's a big Satedan he doesn't get injured easily."

Letting out the breath she was holding Carter looked away from Natalie's worried eyes, "He was injured very badly." she said finally. "He was covered in blood, Carson said that he had internal injuries and bleeding and many cuts on his arms and chest." she said to her.

Natalie stared at Carter, "Is he okay? He's alive then right?" she asked her.

"Yes," Carter said with a nod. "He is alive but Natalie, he's lost a lot of blood and had serious injuries. He's," she paused for a moment trying to find her words. "Ronon is in a coma."

For a few moments Natalie did nothing but stare at Carter blankly and breath in deeply, in and out as if she was trying to center herself, to Carter it looked as if she was trying to control her emotions and not cry right there in the office where everyone could see if they walked past.

Just as Carter was about to speak and ask Natalie if she was alright Natalie stood up rigidly, sending her chair flying backwards and left Carter's office without another word. Natalie only had one place in mind and that was going to the infirmary and seeing Ronon, she had to see him and see the damage that was done to actually believe what carter said. There was no way that Ronon could get so injured that he would be in a coma; Ronon was brave, strong, determined, loyal and a Satedan, he couldn't be taken down easily.

_ # _ # _ # _

Walking into the infirmary Natalie looked around with crazed eyes, trying to find the bed that Ronon was residing in. Before she could really see much and look for Ronon though, Keller walked in front of her and gave her a worried look.

"Natalie," Keller said softly. "I don;t know if it's okay for you to be here. You should go and get some sleep first, you yourself just back from a mission."

Natalie shook her head, "I need to see him," she said as she tried to push past Keller but Keller stepped in front of her again.

"Natalie please, you're very emotional right now, I don't think seeing Ronon in the state he is in would do you any good right now." she argued back.

At that Natalie breathed in deeply, "Keller listen to me, I know you are a doctor and all that but I am a lot stronger then you and if you don't move right now so I can go and see my boyfriend I will move you myself. So help me god Keller, I will do it, friend or not." she said looking at her with a dead serious expression on her face.

"Let her through," John said coming up behind Keller, at htat Keller gave him a look that told him she was not happy. "She needs to see him Keller, just let her through." he told her in a tone of voice that meant he wouldn't be taking no as an answer.

"Fine," she said and stepped away from Natalie and let her through to the back part of the infirmary.

Natalie glanced up at John, "Thanks." she said quietly.

He nodded but said nothing else just led her over to the bed that Ronon was laying in; once at Ronon's bedside John pulled back the curtain that was around his bed so that Natalie could have some privacy.

The second Natalie saw Ronon's face she started crying, she really tried to hold them in and be strong and not show how much this hurt her but she couldn't help it, Ronon was her life and her soul mate basically. Seeing him on the hospital bed looking all beat up and bandaged up really got to her.

"Ronon," Natalie whispered as she slowly approached his bed and grabbed his hand that was closest to her. "I told you to be careful damn it." she said to him as she bent down and kissed the top of his hand. "Why didn't you listen to me you big oaf, I love you and I will be damned if you stay in a coma forever."

John hesitantly cleared his throat, "Natalie?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked without turning around.

He grimaced, "Is there, um is there anything that you want me to get you at all? Something to drink or eat?" he asked her.

In response to that Natalie shook her head, "No, just leave me alone with him for a while okay. I just need to be alone." she said as she sat in the chair by his bed and scooted it closer to him so that she could lay her head down on the bed next to his arm.

"Okay," John said nodding even though Natalie couldn't see it. "If you need anything just radio me." he said and left without waiting for an answer from Natalie.

Once John left Natalie just stared at Ronon for a while; how could her big tough and massive Satedan man get injured so badly that he went into a coma. It just didn't happen. Ronon was too strong for this kind of stuff to happen to him, besides he had to wake up she needed him there with her. They were going to move into a shared room together and be able to have sex without having to go to one or the others room now. She wanted to have the chance to wake up to Ronon every morning in his bed, she wanted to wake up to him kissing her on her back to wake her up.

Finally after an hour of just staring at Ronon and holding onto his hand Natalie got up and went back into the main infirmary area to find Keller or Carson and ask them what's the probability of him waking up and what not.

"Natalie," Keller said in surprise, seeing Natalie away from Ronon's bedside, she would have figured that Natalie would stay there for the whole night. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Natalie ignored her friend's question, "How long?" she asked.

"What?" Keller asked not sure what she was trying to ask her.

"How long until he wakes up?" Natalie asked more clearly.

At that Keller hesitated, "I'm not sure Natalie. With a coma patients it's hard to tell really. It could be a few days, a few weeks, a few months, there's really no telling with them. It all depends on how strong willed the person is and how much they want to wake up and how much interaction they get with other people, the more they hear people that are familiar with them the more likely they are to wake up."

Sighing to herself Natalie turned back around and went back over to Ronon's bed and sat down besides his bed, if talking to him was what would get him to wake up then she would do it. Natalie would do all that was in her power and more if it meant Ronon would wake up, she refused to let him lie in bed – he would think of that as a waste of his talent. He was a warrior and was an action man, he would fight this a coma and wake up. Natalie just knew it.

_ # _ # _ # _

Over the next few days Natalie loyally stayed by Ronon's bedside; she barely moved or talked really or really ate so it was a good thing when Carter took her off of active duty for the time being. She did try and go off on a mission with her team but she ended up being not much use, basically lost in her own mind worrying about Ronon and if he would wake up. Her loss of appetite was really worrying to everyone around her; they all tried to urge her to go down in the mess hall to eat but she refused to leave Ronon's side – if it wasn't for some very persistent arguments from Teyla, Becky and John then Natalie herself would be in the infirmary for malnutrition.

At the moment Teyla and Becky were visiting Natalie in the infirmary to see how she was holding up and to see if there has been any changes in Ronon's situation, they were hoping that they would be able to convince Natalie to leave Ronon's beside for a while, if only an hour to go down to the mess hall and get some food and maybe take a shower.

"Natalie," Teyla started looking at her friend in worry. "I believe that it would do you a lot of good if you would come and join Becky, myself and John in the mess hall to have some lunch." she said and looked at Natalie in concern, she understood the pain that Natalie was going through but it wouldn't do either Natalie nor Ronon any good if Natalie just wasted away.

Immediately Natalie started to shake her head when Teyla said that, "No Teyla, I can't. I can't leave Ronon's side, he needs me here with him in case he wake's up. I can't leave." she said to her desperately.

Hearing that Becky sighed heavily, she hated to see one of her best friends so depressed and looking so unlike her usual self. "Please Nat, it's only for an hour or even a half an hour if you want. Just come with us for a little while, if anything happens Beckett or Keller will radio us and we will come right back up here. I promise." she said begging her friend desperately.

"No," Natalie said to her forcefully, in the back of her mind Natalie knew she was overreacting a bit and being rude to her friends but she couldn't help it, she was too distraught over Ronon.

Just as Becky was about to argue back with her friend Teyla rested her hand on Becky's shoulder and shook her head, silently telling her to drop the subject. "Natalie? Would you like for us to bring something back up here for you to eat at all?" she asked with a gentle smile.

Natalie shrugged to that, "No, I'm fine. Food hasn't been very appealing to me lately." she told her offhandedly.

"I will bring some food up for you," Teyla said with a smile. "If you wish to eat it you can and if you do not then that is fine as well. Becky and I will be back shortly." Teyla said and then grabbed Becky's arm and left the infirmary.

- Mess Hall -

"So," Lorne started as he looked at Teyla and Becky with worry in his eyes, everyone was worried about Natalie but Lorne thought of her as a younger sister just as James had before he died. "How is she?"

Becky shook her head dejectedly, "She isn't doing very good." she answered. "Natalie will barely move or really look at us for a few seconds before she turns back and looks at Ronon again. She's gonna make herself sick." she said worriedly.

John sighed when he heard those things, "If Natalie keeps on going down this road she is going to end up landing herself in the hospital, she can't just not eat or sleep it's not healthy for her." he said with a concerned look on his face.

"Maybe we should chain her to a chair and force feed her and tell her to stop acting like such an idiot," Rodney suggested as he shoved his face full of food. "I mean come on she's overreacting just a bit, I'm worried for the big guy too but come on."

When he said that most of everyone was looking at him like he was an idiot, Bekcy hit him upside the head for that comment. "That is one of the most insensitive things I have ever heard anyone say before and believe me I have been around a lot of ass holes and rude idiot's in my life." she told him with a glare and crossed her arms. "Ronon, your friend up there is Natalie's boyfriend in case you forgot and Natalie loves him with every fiber of her being so she is reacting like any overly worried girlfriend would. And even though I hate that she is acting like this and that I think she should be taking care of herself more, she is still acting as a normal girlfriend would."

Before Rodney could think of a proper response to that John interrupted them, "You know that might work, only without the whole tying her to a chair and force feeding her." he told them with a grin. "We could sit down with her and have a good talking, tell her that she needs to take care of herself if she doesn't want to land herself in the infirmary along with Ronon."

Teyla shook her head when John said that to her, "Just leave her be John, she is in pain from having to see Ronon like this." she told him slowly, as if he didn't understand the situation that was going on.

"I know Teyla but if we keep on letting Natalie act like this she is going to get very sick, already she;s lost some weight from not eating." John reasoned. "Besides we both know she needs to get a wake up call, she needs to take care of herself so that when Ronon finally does wake up those two can celebrate and act like sex deprived bunnies."

Rodney spit his food out of his mouth, "I did not need to hear that," he groaned. "I'm already remembering bad memories." he said; Rodney had the unlucky fortune of finding Natalie and Ronon in a compromising position a few weeks ago.

Everyone ignored him.

Teyla looked at John, "I know John but I do not feel that this is the best way to go about things with Natalie, you know how she is." she said to him seriously.

"As much as I agree with you Teyla," Lorne started. "I think it would be best if we did knock some sense into Natalie – figuratively of course," he amended when he saw Teyla, Emilia and Becky all glaring at him. "We need to make sure that Natalie is at least taking care of herself, she may not go back to her old self until Ronon wake's up but the least we can do is to get her to take better care of herself until he does wake up."

"Yeah," Emilia said nodding her head. "I can't stand to see Natalie like this anymore, she's like a zombie." she stated.

Teyla looked over at Becky, "Do you agree with the rest of them?" she asked. "that we should make her realize what she is doing and have her take care of herself?"

At her question Becky nodded, "Yeah I do. I mean I love Natalie to death, we've known each other since we were six years old but Natalie can be a stubborn ass at times, seriously and even worse when she wants to be." she told them with a half hearted smile. "So I think what John is suggesting is the best idea we got so far, but I am so not gonna be around for when this conversation take's place, I've seen Natalie when she was only slightly mad I do not want to see her pissed off. Sooo, good luck John." she said to him with a sympathetic glance.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna need it." John replied unenthusiastically.

A/N: Awe poor Ronon and poor Natalie, I told you all that there would be some drama going on soon. It just takes a while for me to lead up to it i like to have some fun juicy Ronon/Nat relationship time in there.


	35. Wake UP!

Disclaimer: as ususal so not mine no matter how much i wish it was mine

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but i was having writers block for the first page in a half of the chapter, i rewrote it like four or five times until i finally came up with soemthing i like so i hope its to your liking.

Chapter Thirty-five

Its been about a week in a half since Ronon landed himself in a coma; Natalie being the diligent girlfriend that she was has has loyally stayed by his side for most of the time. Once in a while her friends would come in and check on her and ask how Ronon was doing and if there were any changes in his condition, but more often then not they just came to sit with her and to give her some company. For the most part though, they all gave Natalie her space and alone time with Ronon and let her deal with everything that has happened.

At the moment Natalie was sitting by Ronon's beside and talking to him, about anything and everything that came to mind. About what has been happening in Atlantis lately, what the others have been up to and just stuff like that.

"You know," Natalie started as she ran her hand down Ronon's face lovingly. "Everyone probably thinks I'm being pretty damn selfish right now and I don't blame them, I am being selfish. I'm not going off world with my team, or working down in the weapons bay and you know how much I like working with my weapons," she said with a half hearted laugh. "All I am doing everyday is just sitting up here with you, waiting for you to open your wonderful green/brown eyes." she said and looked down at him, taking in his massively tall form.

Natalie sighed to herself, wishing that those words would have woken Ronon up, "I know I'm overreacting a bit, well a lot more then a bit but having this happen to you scared me Ronon, and I've never been so scared before in my life. You Ronon are my life, without you in my life I don't know what I would do. No one in my life has ever been able to completely understand me like you are able to Ronon; not my friends, family, past boyfriends or hell even my sister or my mom – none of them get me like the way you do. You can take one look at me and know just what I need you to do without me having to say anything at all."

"Before we got together I really thought that I was happy with my life and that it was as full as it possibly could get," Natalie said with a half smile on her face. "But I was wrong, before you I was...content with my life, just letting it go by me without grasping on. But then you came and saved me from that planet and everything went out the window, you turned my life around and made me feel things so intensely and so passionately. You made me feel truly and completely happy. With you in my life I feel as if I could take on the world and win; you make me feel loved, wanted, needed, beautiful, sexy and all of the above. To be truthful, I never really though that I would get this," she said to him and gestured between them. "I seriously though I was destined for loneliness."

Pausing a moment Natalie looked at Ronon, "I know that if you were awake right now you would be yelling at me and saying 'what the hell are you worrying about, I'm not dead' but being in a coma isn't a good thing either Ronon." she said looking at him sadly. "If you could see me right now you would sooo kick my ass and drag me down to the mess hall and force feed me until I exploded or something; I haven't really slept or ate much of anything since you landed yourself in here and I know I should eat and get a good nights sleep but I feel weird without having you to sleep beside." she told him and grasped onto his hand and laced their fingers together. "I think nearly everyone hates me now though, I'm being even more anti-social then I normally am and you and I both know that even that's a bit drastic even for me."

"We don't hate you," a voice said from behind Natalie making her jump in surprise.

Turning around Natalie saw that it was john that was standing behind her giving her an amused smile, in response to that she gave him an annoyed look. "How long have you been standing there?"

John smirked at her and walked closer to Ronon's bed, "Since you said you said you were overreacting."

"Am I?" Natalie asked quietly and genuinely curious.

John looked at her, "Overreacting?" he asked which Natalie nodded to. "Yeah, I'm sorry to say but you are overreacting just a bit but it's to be expected." he told her honestly. "You two are in love, both of you love completely and passionately so we, or at least I figured that you wouldn't take this very well." he said and nodded towards Ronon's prone form. "In fact I probably would have worried if you wouldn't have acted like this."

Hearing his explanation Natalie cringed, "I'm sorry John, I've been such a shitty friend. I mean all of you know Ronon and are friends with him and I didn't even think of that while I was wallowing in my own depression." she said looking at him with a pained expression. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did, barely moving or eating and basically acting like a real life zombie." she said apologetically.

"It's alright Nat, seriously." John said to her waving her apology off. "Just you know, take care of yourself from now on. Not just for yourself but for Ronon too, he's gonna be mighty disappointed if you two can't do the down and dirty deed because you refused to take care of yourself." he said giving her a pointed look. "So Natalie, please eat, take a shower and sleep."

At that Natalie laughed, "Are you saying that I smell?" she asked jokingly, trying to go back to her old self a bit.

John smiled at that, "No you still stink pretty but a few more days and I may be singing a different tune." he told her.

"You John, are one of a kind," Natalie said shaking her head at him in amusement.

He looked at her questioningly, "So you're well enough for jokes but are you ready to go down to the mess hall and have some lunch with some of your friends who've missed you since you became a zombie?"

At that Natalie pretended to consider her options before she gave him a grin and nodded, "I think I'll be able to manage that." she told him honestly. "I feel like I haven't ate in forever."

"Yeah I bet you do," he told her as the two of them made the way out of the infirmary and towards the mess hall.

To tell the truth Natalie has missed her friends ever since she put herself in her own solitary confinement besides Ronon's bed, not really talking or socializing with others unless they came over to her and talked with her and even then she didn't do much. Natalie knew that she couldn't just wallow, she wasn't on Atlantis to do nothing and her moping about wasn't going to make Ronon wake up any faster.

`-`-`-`-`-` - Four weeks later - `-`-`-`-`-

After Natalie and John had their little heart to heart Natalie started to act not so anti-social anymore and more like her old self; she actually left the infirmary for more then an hour or so at a time, she had at least one meal with her friends each day and sometimes went down to the gym to spar – she needs to keep her strength up after all, just because she isn't going out on missions at the moment doesn't mean she can be lax.

"Natalie I was curious if you would be interested in sparring with me after we eat?" Teyla asked looking at Natalie; the two of them were having lunch together.

At that Natalie gave Teyla an apologetic smile, "I would but I sparred earlier with Emilia and Becky, and I really want to go back up to the infirmary and just talk to Ronon and try and help him wake up." she told her friend. "I mean really I would but..." she said cutting herself off knowing Teyla would know what she was trying to say.

"But you want to spend time with Ronon," Teyla said to her with a smile. "I understand, it is fine Natalie. Maybe we can spar tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

It didn't bother Teyla all that much that Natalie said no to her, If she was in Natalie's place she would want to be besides her loved one's side as often as she possibly could.

Natalie nodded at Teyla, "Yeah tomorrow would be great; sorry I haven't had a chance to spar with you much but I'm trying to you know, teach Becky how to defend herself for when the time comes that she will need to do so." she explained to her friend.

"It's fine, Becky needs all the training that she can get." Teyla told her. "I would not wish her to be inexperienced when she comes face to face with danger."

For a while after that the two talked about maybe having another girls night soon, it's been a while since any of the girls have had any fun and now that Becky was in Atlantis she needed to join in on the ritual of girls night. Teyla mainly wanted to have another girls night more so for Natalie's benefit then anything else; she thought that maybe it would life her friends spirit a bit and get her mind off of the situation with Ronon if only for the night. Natalie needed a break from worrying so much and just have fun, for a few hours at least.

-infirmary-

After her lunch with Teyla Natalie immediately headed up to the infirmary so that she could sit with Ronon and continue talking to him, hoping that him hearing her voice would help to wake him up. She knew that it was a long shot but it was all that she had.

"Alright Ronon it's been way too long since you've been in a coma and I'm really starting to get annoyed," Natalie told Ronon as she looked down at his prone form. "I get that you need time to deal with what happened and to let your mind and body heal but this is just starting to get a little bit much don't you think?" she asked him rhetorically.

Natalie paused a moment and took a deep breath before she sat down by Ronon's bed in what was now known as 'her' chair. "So you gotta wake up real soon Ronon, okay. Because if you don't I'm gonna go crazy and do something drastic like go back to Earth or something and both of us know that I think of Atlantis as my home instead of Earth." she said with a slightly laugh.

Huffing in annoyance Natalie rubbed at her face, "Ronon Dex if you don't wake up soon I am going to shoot you with your own damn gun, multiple times and I will make sure that I aim no where that is pleasant to be shot in." she said to him threateningly even though she knew that she wasn't going to be getting a response from him.

"You're the only one I'd let handle my gun."

Quickly looking up Natalie was surprised to see Ronon awake and staring at her with his intense green/brown eyes, smirking at her.

"Ronon!" Natalie said with a big grin on her face and all but attacked Ronon and threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and kissed him passionately. "I can't believe that you are awake, I didn't think that you'd ever wake up." she whispered to him sadly.

In response Ronon wrapped his arms around Natalie and kissed her forehead, "Like that would happen, I got you to come back to." he told her with a playful smile. "How long have I been out?" he asked curiously.

At that Natalie let go of Ronon and sat back down in her chair, "Five weeks, maybe a little bit more." she said to him quietly.

Ronon grimaced when he heard that and gave Natalie a pained expression, "Sorry Natalie, I'm sorry. I love you." he told her sincerely.

"It's in the past Ronon, whats done is done but if you ever even think about doing something like that to me again I will seriously shoot you with your gun." Natalie told him with a pointed look on her face.

He laughed when she said that, "I'll try and not do that again." Ronon said shaking his head in amusement at his girlfriend.

Suddenly Natalie let go of Ronon and stood up, "I should go and find someone, like Carson or Keller or really any of the doctors and tell them that you're awake finally." she said and made to head towards the main part of the infirmary.

Ronon grabbed her hand, "Look I'm fine I don't need no doctor to tell me that." he said and pulled her towards him.

At that Natalie gave him a half smile, "Yeah I know you are Ronon but you know that one way or another they are going to come in here and look you over and make sure you're alright so we might as well get it done now instead of waiting until one of them comes in here to check on you."

Before Ronon could even answer that Natalie left his bedside and went to go and find Carson or Keller; it only took her a few moments to return to Ronon with Carson following right behind her with a surprised look on his face.

"You had us all quite a bit worried about ye lad," Carson said as he took a seat besides Ronon's bed and brought over some medical supplies to look over his vitals with.

Ronon gave them a look, "Shouldn't have, I'm fine." he said to them.

Carson shook his head at Ronon, "No son, you suffered quite a few internal damages and bleeding as well as some head trauma." he told him as he took out his stethoscope. "We had good reason for being worried over you." he said to Ronon seriously.

Seeing as Carson was going to give Ronon a check up and make sure everything was in working order Natalie decided that it would be best to leave and maybe get Ronon something to eat. "Do you want me to go get you anything Ronon? Some food or whatever?" she asked him with a grin still on her face, she was unable to stop grinning ever since Ronon woke up.

"Food would be good."

At that Natalie laughed, "I figured that would be the one thing that you would want the most when you woke up." she said giving him a smile. "I'll be back soon." she said a she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and then headed towards the mess hall.

While Natalie was gone getting some food for herself and Ronon, Carson was doing some tests on Ronon. Testing his hand eye coordination, motor skills, movement in his limbs and how far he could push them and if they were up to par and to see how well his wounds had healed.

"The poor lass hasn't left your side since you landed yourself in a coma," Carson said as he looked at Ronon.

"Natalie?" Ronon asked with a unreadable expression on his face.

Carson nodded, "Aye lad, Carter even took her off duty because of how distraught she was over you. She nearly landed herself in here right along with you, she barely slept or ate or left your side during the whole time you were out of sorts." he said to Ronon.

At that Ronon got quiet, well more quiet then usual. He knew that him being in a coma hurt Natalie, but he didn't think that she would take it so badly where she wouldn't end up taking care of herself. Natalie should know by now that he could make it through anything that is thrown at him, a coma and all sorts of things like that included.

-**Quote of the day**: I'm not weird, I'm normal with a splash of awesome, which sometimes confuses people!

A/N: Please review, reviews make me happy and gives me ideas and stuff like that.


	36. Who knew

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: it took mew a few tries to get this chapter right, hoep you like it and please as always review and i do see you people adding my story to favorites and alerts so i know you like this so you guys should at least review once if you are a new reader damn it!

Still love you guys as always. Next chatper there is gonna be some action going on, if my writing flows the way it is supposed to that is.

Chapter thirty-six

As Natalie walked back into the infirmary with Ronon's food Keller stopped her and gave her a breath defying hug, in response to that Natalie gave Keller a confused look but hugged her friend back nonetheless.

"Umm, thanks Keller I always like getting hugs and everything but what was that for?" Natalie asked cocking her head to the side and looking at Keller.

Keller gave Natalie a smile, "I'm just happy for you Natalie, happy that Ronon is awake and happy that you are back to your old self. I missed your usual confident, sassy, can kick anyone's ass if asked kind of attitude." she told her and gave her another hug.

At that Natalie gave Keller an apologetic look, "Sorry Jen, I'll try and not let that happen again. I know I kind of went overboard there but yeah." she told her friend.

"I'm just glad you're back to your old self," she said to her. "Now go on to Ronon, I know you're dying to get back to him." she said with an amused laugh.

Natalie shrugged when Keller said that, "What can I say I'm addicted to the man." she told her and went on her way back to Ronon's bedside.

It amazed Keller with how big of a difference Ronon being awake did to Natalie's attitude, she was happier, more alive and back to her old self. Even before Natalie and Ronon got together Natalie wasn't as happy as she was now, Ronon completed Natalie in ways that no one else would ever dream of being able to do. Ronon being awake was definitely a godsend, without him in Natalie's life she would have slowly withered away – Keller truly did believe that would have happened. Eventually Natalie would have given up hope and would have let herself go.

Walking over to Ronon's bed Natalie gave him a small smile, "I come bearing food." she said as she set the tray on Ronon's lap.

"You do know that I can't even eat this much at one time," Ronon said to her as he eyed the tray that had almost every kind of lunch food on it that Atlantis offered.

Hearing that Natalie gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry I wasn't sure what thing you would want first so I just grabbed what I knew you liked and well there ended up being a lot of things you liked." she said to him. "Some of it is for me too, I feel like I haven't ate in forever." she said to him which was partly true, she hasn't had a full actual meal in a long while – she only ever ate half of her lunch she just didn't have the urge to eat.

For the first time since he woke up Ronon took a good long look at Natalie, taking in her appearance. He could see the obvious changes in her weight and how tired and haggard she looked; him being in a coma did a number on her person and that was not something he was very happy about.

"Good you need to eat," Ronon said giving her an unamused look. "You've lost too much weight while I was out, you need to take care of yourself." he told her as he handed her two of the sandwiches that was on his tray.

When he said that Natalie took on a downcast expression, "Sorry." she said quietly as she started to nibble on the sandwich Ronon gave her.

Ronon grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes, "Don't be sorry Natalie just take care of yourself, you need to eat you know how much I like your beautiful big hips and your ass. You know how much I love that part of your body." he said to her with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Even a perv when you're in the infirmary." Natalie said to him in amusement and shaking her head. "Insatiable aren't you."

"Only with you," Ronon told him as he finished off his first two sandwiches and moved on to the other things that were packed on the tray.

Natalie smiled at him and grabbed some of the fruit off of the tray to eat, "So what's the verdict?" she asked him.

At that Ronon looked at Natalie, "Verdict?" he questioned.

"Earth saying, sorry." she said waving his question off. "I mean what did Carson say?" she asked again.

Ronon got an annoyed look on his face when Natalie said that, "Said I gotta stay in here overnight for observation, don't know why I feel perfectly fine."

Giving Ronon a smile Natalie finished off her food and threw it in the garbage, "I know you do and I am sure that you are good as new but you know doctors," she said with a roll of her eyes. "They're overly paranoid and worry about their patients all of the time."

"Eat this," Ronon said and handed her more food.

Natalie groaned when Ronon did that, "Ronon I ate enough, you don't need to stuff me like a pig." she whined at him.

He just gave her an unwavering look, "Eat," he said/demanded.

"Ronon-" Natalie started but was cut off by Ronon.

"No," Ronon said shaking his head, "You need to eat, so eat."

That made Natalie gave him an unamused look, "Do I have much of a choice?" she asked.

Ronon shook his head, "No not really, you might as well just eat it now."

Sighing Natalie took the food from him, "Fine." she conceded. "You're so pushy." she told him with a joking smile.

"Someone's gotta be with you around here," he told her with a smirk. "Everyone else it too afraid to be pushy with you." he told her.

That was something Natalie couldn't argue with, Ronon was one of the only other people in Atlantis that she knew that was just as stubborn if not more so then her and would take her head on and make her and convince her to do something. Like when she got too distracted to actually go and eat a meal or when she needed to get some sleep or take a break from doing something or another.

For the next few hours Natalie and Ronon just talked; Natalie telling him whats been going on since he went into a coma, telling him about the few missions that his team and her's have been going on. What she has been doing to keep herself occupied when she wasn't all but stationed by his bedside and just things like that.

Soon enough though Natalie started yawning tiredly and bobbing her head, it was obvious to anyone that saw her that she needed a good night of sleep and not just sleeping in the chair besides Ronon's bed.

"You should go to your room and get some sleep Natalie," Ronon said as he cupped her face and ran his thumb up and down her soft skin. "You look dead." he told her with a half smile on his face.

Natalie blinked her eyes open and stubbornly shook her head, "I'm not tired yet." she said as she tried, unsuccessfully to hide another yawn.

At that Ronon raised his brow at her, "Natalie you are falling asleep where you are sitting, go to bed. Not like I'm going anywhere." he said to her.

"I can't sleep there without you," Natalie admitted to him with a half smile on her face. "I tried a few times but all I did was toss and turn all night, I can't seem to fall asleep without you by my side when I know you are up here." she revealed to him.

Ronon looked at her for a few moments before he sighed, "Get up here." he said to her.

"What?" she asked him, looking at him startled.

He gave her a look, "Get up here with me, I'm not gonna be letting you losing sleep over me anymore, so get your ass up here with me." Ronon said to her with an expectant look on his face.

Natalie looked at him undecided, "Ronon, they wont like that." she said and subtly gestured to the medical people that were around the room.

In response to that Ronon just shrugged, "Who cares what they like or don't like I could kick their ass if wanted to." he said shaking his head at her argument. "Now get up here Natalie." he told her seriously.

"Okay." Natalie said to him.

Getting up from her chair Natalie moved in besides Ronon on the infirmary bed and laying on her side with her head resting on Ronon's chest, one of her arms going around his neck and playing with his dreadlocks and the other resting besides where her head was resting on his chest and one of her legs moving in between Ronon's.

Within ten or fifteen minutes Natalie was dead asleep; Ronon just stared down at Natalie's sleeping form with a smile on his face and just watched all of the different facial expressions that went across Natalie's face. He loved watching her sleep, it was the one thing that he could do everyday all day and not get bored – not that he didn't love watching her when she was awake and acting all fierce battle maiden but asleep she looked so serene but just as beautiful as she usually does.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

It was several hours later and Ronon was still laying in bed with Natalie curled up next to him, her dead to the world, in fact Ronon doubted anything but the end of the world could wake her up at the moment she was lost that deep to sleep.

"Hey Ronon!" John said coming over to him with a grin.

Ronon shook his head, "Quiet Sheppard, she's sleeping." he said as he gestured down to Natalie.

John gave a sheepish smile at that, "Sorry," he apologized as he took a seat in the chair besides Ronon's bed. "So how are ya feeling?" he asked.

"Fine, I'm ready to get out of here, I was ready to leave about four hours ago." Ronon told him as he unconsciously began to run his free hand through Natalie's mass of long blonde curls.

At that John laughed, "Yeah I'm sure you are but you know the rules." he told him.

"Doesn't mean I gotta like 'em all that much." Ronon complained to him.

John just shook his head when Ronon said that and looked at Natalie who was practically laying on top of Ronon, she looked much more peaceful and happy then she has in the past month or so.

"She took it hard you know," John told him with a sad look on his face. "Barely sleeping or eating at all."

"I know," Ronon said sadly as he bent down and kissed Natalie's forehead tenderly. "I could tell from just the way she looked; dark circles under her eyes, weaker then usual and not the same soft and roundness I was used to feeling. She should have been taking care of herself better." he said with a shake of his head.

That made John sigh, "We did what we could but you know Natalie, if she doesn't want to do something she wont do it no matter what anyone else says to her."

Hearing that Ronon smiled, "Yeah she's too stubborn for her own good."

"Sounds like someone else I know," John said giving Ronon a pointed look.

Ronon didn't deny the obvious accusation, "Probably a good thing we are together then. I doubt there's another woman out there in the world that can actually handle me like Natalie can." he admitted with a half laugh.

"You guys fit; you and Natalie are a lot alike but different at the same time you two balance each other out in some odd, weird way." John told his friend. "She's fierce and loyal and a fighter just like you are but she's calm where you jump into a situation right away at times."

For a few minutes after that neither man said much of anything, just getting lost in their thoughts. Ronon thinking about Natalie as usual an d excited to get out of the infirmary so that he could properly show her how sorry he was for worrying her; and John, John was thinking about how great it was that Ronon was awake and that Natalie was now acting like her old self instead of the mopey version that has been gracing the halls of Atlantis lately.

"Its good to have you back Chewie," John said as he stood up from the chair. "Glad that hit to the head didn't leave you in this bed in a permanent a coma." he said to him.

Ronon snorted at that, "It's gonna take more then a little hit to the head to keep me out of the fighting." he said to him determinedly.

John smiled at that, "Of course not," he said to him. "I'm gonna go and let you get some sleep. See you tomorrow Ronon." he said with a wave and left Ronon to get some sleep just like Natalie was doing at the moment.

`- -` -` - - `- `- – `- `- ` -` -` -` -` -`- -` – `- -`- -`- `

"So," Natalie said as she and Ronon left the infirmary Carson finally gave the okay for him to leave after he did one last check over.

Ronon looked down at Natalie questioningly, "So?" he asked, wondering what she was being so antsy about at the moment.

"I have a surprise for you," she said happily, grinning at him widely.

At that Ronon looked at her, "Really?" he asked her. "Does it involve getting naked?" he asked as he groped her, not caring if anyone walking by saw what he did, it's been forever since he has been able to touch Natalie who is he to deny himself that privilege.

Natalie shook her head at Ronon's question, "It may at the end of the day, depending how things go." she told him vaguely.

"So what's this surprise then if it's not us getting naked?" he asked her, if there weren't so many people walking around right now he would grab Natalie up and drag her into one of the many unused labs/rooms that were in close walking distance at the moment.

Grabbing Ronon's arm Natalie gave him a smirk, "You'll see." she said to him mysteriously and dragged him down the hall and to the closest transporter.

Ronon let Natalie drag him into the transporter down a few levels and through the many twists and turns and corridors of Atlantis until they got to where some of the rooms were; they passed the block where his and Sheppard's room's were located at, then passed by wehre Rodney's and a few of their other friends' were at.

Once they passed Natalie's room though Ronon stopped in his tracks making Natalie stop as well, she turned and looked up at him impatiently. "Ronon come on." she said to him.

"Where are we going, we passed mine and your room." He said to her with a raised brow.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "You'll see in a moment just trust me on this Ronon." she told him giving him a a wide eyed, hopeful look.

"All right, lead the way woman." he said to her and playfully slapped her on the ass.

At that Natalie gave him a look, "You know usually I wouldn't like being called woman it's derogatory coming from most men, but coming from you I kinda like it." she said to him and grabbed his hand once more. "Now come on, lets go." she said.

Leading Ronon down the halls once again, it took about five or ten more minutes until they arrived at wherever it was that Natalie wanted to show Ronon – or rather to where Ronon's surprise was at.

Suddenly Natalie stopped at a door and turned towards Ronon, "All right, close your eyes," she demanded.

"Why?" Ronon asked looking at her suspiciously.

At that Natalie put her hands on her hips and gave him a look, "Just do it Ronon." she told him in a no arguments tone of voice.

Hearing the tone of voice she used on him Ronon did as she asked or rather demanded of him, he knew when not to argue with her. Sure he could take Natalie on if he wanted to but he would really rather not have a pissed off Natalie on his hands, that is not something he wanted to deal with if he didn't have to.

Ronon heard a door slid open and then Natalie grab his hand and pull him into whatever room it was that she opened, "All right you can look now." she told him.

Opening his eyes Ronon saw a room, bigger then his or Natalie's room but still just a plain old room. "A room?" he asked looking down at her.

"Not just any room," Natalie told him him with a smile on her face. "Our new room." she stated with a waggle of her eye brows.

When she said that Ronon broke out into a grin, he had nearly forgotten he and Natalie had decided to get a shared room. "Our room?" he asked, when Natalie nodded Ronon grabbed her up and kissed her passionately.

Natalie wrapped her arms around Ronon's neck and hefted herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself as tightly against Ronon as she possibly could, kissing Ronon with everything that she had in her. She loved feeling his warm skin against her's, his rough bear tickling the soft skin on her face and feeling the hardness of his muscles as she trailed her fingers up and and down his body.

"You like it then?" Natalie asked him as she finally pulled away from their heated kiss but not removing herself from his body.

He smirked at her, "More then like it, I love it." he told her honestly.

To Ronon it wasn't the room that mattered so much as that he would be living and sharing a room with Natalie from now on; the last time that Ronon lived with another person was when he lived on Sateda – Melena. And that was nearly ten years ago and then right after that happened he became a runner until he ran into John and Teyla, who then got Carson to come and take out the tracking device out of his back.

Getting a shared room with Natalie was a big step for Ronon, it was proof for himself that he was truly over Melena. Sure he would always love her, there was no doubt about that but nothing in the world would bring her back and Ronon had to get on with his life. Besides as much as he loved Melena those years ago and appreciated that she showed him what love was, he loved Natalie so much more intensely and passionately.

Natalie let go of Ronon and stood back on her own two feet, "I didn't move anything in because I wanted to wait until you woke up; I wanted this to be a me and you thing." she said to him with a slight smile.

"We could always break the room in before we move our stuff into it," Ronon suggested with a wolfish grin on his face as he slowly backed Natalie into one of the walls in the room.

At that Natalie tried to hide a smile, "As sexy and yummy as that sounds I'm gonna have to say no Ronon," she told him and forcefully pushed him away, though if Ronon really didn't want to move he wouldn't have. "I like having sex against the wall as much as the next girl but we got way too much crap to move into here and we are not waiting another day before we get moved in here. I've been waiting five weeks for you to wake up so we can get this going, so I am going to be damned if I let both of your sex drives ruin that for me." she told him determinedly.

Ronon looked at her wit ha smirk, "that;s fine," he told her as he leaned down to speak into her ear with his deep, sultry voice that she loved oh so much. "I can wait, the second we get everything in here you are mine. I don;t care if everything is just thrown in here and not set up, I am not waiting to get you on your back and to show you just how much I want you."

hearing those words Natalie let out a small whimper, she wanted to take back her words but knowing Ronon he would say no to her just to tease her. "Okay," Natalie squeaked out uncharacteristically.

Sop with that said Ronon and Natalie with the help from a few of their friends started the tiring task of packing their stuff up and moving it to their new room; Ronon's room was the easiest to pack up considering that he didn't really have all that much to begin with but Natalie on the other hand. Well Natalie had quite a few things; clothes, books, pictures, notebooks, movies, her personal lap top and the Atlantis lap top, her video camera that she used to send video's home to Earth and well basically she just had a lot of stuff.

Eventually though they finished up and the second that all of their friends left Ronon all but attacked Natalie so that he could show her just how much he appreciated what she did for him and how loyal she was to him while he was out of commission for a while.

A/N: Hey lovelies hope you liked this chapter took me forever to get done.


	37. Hard to Say

Disclaimer: as usual so not mine, wish it was but its not

A/N: sorry it took forever for me to get this up but i kept on getting annoyed with how everything was flowing so i hope its better this time around and i hope that you all like it.

Chapter thirty-seven

It's been about a week since Ronon had woken up and everything was going as usual, or at least as usual as it was for people in Atlantis. Ronon, at the moment was out on a mission with John, Rodney and Teyla so Natalie decided to take the time to make a video to send to her sister – she hasn't sent a video message to her sister since before Ronon went into a coma.

"Hey Michie, Ma and Asia and Rora of course," Natalie said with a smile into the video camera. "I know, I know it's been like a month in a half since I've contacted any of you. I'm sorry." she said sincerely. "But it's been busy with work and, well Ronon got hurt so my mind was focused solely on him. They gave me a few weeks off – I was too distraught to really do much of anything." Natalie gave a shake of her head. "Don't worry though Ma, I know you are worried. My friends made sure I ate and slept, well as much as I could for worrying over my boyfriend's health."

Natalie smiled to herself, "But everything is fine now, right now he's off working." she said vaguely, can't get too descriptive with what her job was. "Ronon and I recently moved into a shared room, the second he woke up, well okay the day after he woke up we moved into the room."

"Well Becky is now working with me, I didn't think I'd ever see her in this line of work but I'm glad I had one of my old friends from back home to talk to now. Myself alone with Emilia and Lorne are teaching Becky some self defense; she needs to know how to defend herself and well sparring against one and another helps pass the time."

Pushing her hair back Natalie looked at the camera again, "Asia I hope you are doing good in school and taking care of your sister; when I come back for a visit us three girls are having a sleep over. We can watch weird creepy movies, have s'mores and eat tons of junk food all night." she said with a smile. "Well as much as I love making these video's for you guys I really have to go. I have a lunch date with some of my friends. Love you guys, bye."

So with that said Natalie waved at the camera one last time before she leaned forward and turned the camera off and left her and Ronon's room and made her way towards the mess hall to meet up with the girls.

~~~~~~~~ Mess Hall ~~~~~~~

Once Natalie grabbed some food to eat she headed over to the table that she saw that Emilia, Becky and Teyla were sitting at.

"Hey girlies," Natalie said with a smile and sat down next to Becky. "No Keller?" she asked.

Teyla shook her head, "No Keller said she was unable to join us today, she had a lot of paper work that she needed to catch up on. She promised that next time we have a girls lunch that she will be more then happy to join us then." she explained to her.

At that Natalie grimaced, "Ugh! That's no fun. I hate doing paper work because one, totally boring and two there is always so much we have to do whenever we get back from a mission." she stated with a put off expression on her face.

"As boring as it is, it is something that we must do." Teyla said with a small smile.

"Too bad paper work here isn't like it was in high school," Natalie said with a sigh.

At that Becky gave Natalie an amused look, "What? You mean just not do it or turn it in?" she asked with a laugh.

Natalie shook her head, "No, I mean cheating off each others papers for the answers." she told her.

"You cheated during your education?" Teyla asked with scrunched up forehead.

Becky laughed, "No not really, very rarely did we do that and that was even if we had the same classes together. We may have been in the same grade but we took completely different classes." she explained. "Natalie was way into the arts and English stuff and well I was more of a math and science person." she admitted.

"This why she is a biologist," Natalie said with a grand wave of her hands towards her friend.

Staring at her friend Becky shook her head, sometimes Natalie is all badass all the way and could kick anyone's ass no matter what their size was but at other times Becky seriously wondered about her friend's sanity – Natalie was a complete dork but an adorkable one.

"Anyways," Becky said leaning forward and looking at Emilia pointedly. "I heard from a little someone that you've had a crush on Lorne ever since you got here yet you haven't told him yet." she said giving Emilia a curious look. "Why is that exactly?" she asked.

Hearing that Emilia sent Natalie a glare, "Natalie!" she hissed at her. "Do you have to tell everyone?" she asked and crossed her arms. "Pretty soon the whole base is going to know and then someone is going to tell Lorne."

Teyla shook her head, "I very much doubt that would happen Emilia, Natalie would never disobey your trust in her." she said to her.

"Yeah, Yeah," Emilia said with a sigh. "Sometimes I hate it when you all make so much sense." she feigned annoyance.

Natalie smirked at her, "Can't help that we're amazing." she said to her jokingly.

At that Becky rolled her eyes, "Yeah and oh so humble." she said sarcastically but before Natalie could respond to that she turned her eyes back on Emilia. "So what's up with you not telling Lorne that you like him? I mean it's obvious that he likes you and doesn't find you annoying or repulsive? I though you Italian's were supposed to be direct."

"No, us Italians love to eat while the Greeks are the more direct ones." Emilia said to them knowingly as she gestured to her tray of food that was piled up almost as much as McKay's was on most days.

Natalie gave Emilia a look, "Emilia you need to get with the program and tell Lorne that you have the hots for him and want to jump his bones." she said giving the girl a look. "If you don't who knows what may happen, hell some other girl may come along and will snatch him from right under you." she said to her with a shrug.

"Come on guys," Emilia whined. "I doubt Lorne even likes me in that way, I mean do I even look like his type?" she asked them with a skeptical look.

The second she said that all three girls gave her unhappy looks, Teyla gave Emilia a gentle smile. "You may not believe so but I know that Lorne likes you quite a bit, maybe as much as you like him. You will never find out if you do not take the chance. And we all know Lorne is too much of a gentleman to actually find out." she told her.

"Yeah no kidding," Natalie said. "Lorne thinks that you don't have any interest in him, he thinks that you think of him as only a brother. So he won't make a move on you Emi, you need to be the man of the situation so to say and take charge."

Emilia shook her head, "He doesn't like me like that guys, get over it." she said with a disappointed expression.

That made Teyla shake her head, "You know I seem to remember having a very similar conversation with Natalie a few months ago," she said with a pointed look as she gestured to Natalie and gave her a small smile. "Now she and Ronon are very much in love and living together I do not doubt that you and Lorne could be like that if you told him exactly how you felt."

"Come on Emi you are a strong confident woman," Becky said with a grin. "I know you Italians love to eat but I know you all speak your mind when you want to. So harness your inner Italian and go over and tell Lorne what you think of him and about all of the things that you want to do to him at night in the bedroom." she said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"I don't know," Emilia said hesitantly as she took a big bite of her food.

Natalie rolled her eyes at Emilia's nervousness, "Its not like he's going to kill you for telling him how you feel." she told her in amusement.

Teyla looked at Emilia, "You and Lorne have been growing much closer and hanging around each other a lot more often since your time on Abaroia haven't you?" she asked curiously.

A while back, when Becky had first arrived in Atlantis Natalie and her had a one on one girls night so that she could explain to Becky what exactly happened to Natalie a few months before on Abaroia. Natalie told Becky how she and the rest of her team had been captures and held hostage in a small room, that the people of that planet wanted information about where they came from and who they were but Natalie and her team refused and let themselves be tortured rather then give up the people of Atlantis.

"Lorne and I are friends," Emilia said. "Us spending more time together then we used to do doesn't explain anything." she defended and crossed her arms and gave them annoyed looks.

"Someone's in denial," Becky stage whispered to Natalie.

Natalie nodded, "Oh yeah."

Just as Emilia was about to yell at Natalie and Becky for talking about her as if she wasn't there Lorne came up to the table and sat down besides Emilia who gave him a tight smile and looked down at her tray of half eaten food.

"Hey girls, how are we doing today?" Lorne asked looking at each of them.

"Fabulous," Becky said and looked at Emilia and then back at Lorne again. "How about you Lorne? How are you doing?" she asked with a smirk.

Lorne gave her an uncertain look but answered anyways, "I..I'm great Becky." he said to her hesitantly. "Anyways, I was wondering if any of you three would want to go and spar with me for a while?"

Hearing that Natalie looked straight at Emilia with a smirk and silently gestured to Lorne without him noticing, in response to that Emilia just shook her head.

Shaking her head Natalie looked at Lorne, "What none of the guys wanna spar with you so you've decided that fighting us girls would be an easy win?" she asked Lorne teasingly.

"Come on Nat," Lorne said with a smile. "We all know that you can kick my ass as well as any marine. Specially with Ronon giving you one on one lessons." he said with a grin on his face.

Natalie gave him a smirk, "Who says he's teaching me to spar?" she asked with a raised brow.

Lorne winced when she said that, "Nat I do not need to hear about your sexcapades okay." he told her shaking his head. "So," he said turning to look at Becky, Emilia and Teyla. "Any takers?"

"Emi would more then love to spar with you Lorne," Teyla said with a hint of a laugh. "She has been saying how she misses sparring with someone more at her level, Natalie just is too used to sparring with myself and Ronon. She does not know how to go easy on someone."

At that Lorne gave Teyla and Natalie questioning looks before turning towards Emilia, "So you gonna come and spar with me?" he asked.

"Uh, sure Lorne." Emilia said as she gave him a smile and quickly turned to look at Natalie and Teyla with glares, yup she definitely wasn't amused at the impromptu trick to get her have some alone time with Lorne.

At that Lorne gave Emilia a big grin, "Well come on lets get going then," he said standing up and offered up his arm to Emilia.

Emilia shook her head at him and took his arm and let him lead her out of the mess hall, Emilia looked back at her friends with a glare and mouthed 'I'll get you back' and then turned back around and started to talk to Lorne again.

Becky glanced at Natalie, "Should we be worried about what she might do to us?" she asked curiously.

"Nah," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "I wouldn't, by the time she remembers that she said that she would get us back she will be thanking us for giving her and Lorne some alone time."

"Well," Teyla said standing up. "I am sorry to say but I must leave you two, I am expected by my people. I am going to be visiting them for a few days." she told them with a smile. "I will see you when I get back." she said and then left.

After Natalie and Becky finished their lunch Becky went back to the Biology lab to continue working, for a while Natalie sat with her there and listened to her talk about what she was doing and how it would help so many people but soon enough Natalie herself had to leave and go down to the weapons bay to do some work with her weapons.

~~~~~~ Few Weeks Later ~~~~~~

Natalie was in her and Ronon's room, laying in bed and trying to get some sleep in – she had only gotten back from a mission about an hour or so ago and decided that instead of doing paper work like she was supposed to be doing she would get some sleep in. Before coming to Atlantis Natalie barely ever took naps, she hated wasting the day away by sleeping all of the time but now Natalie changed her view. It was hard work living on Atlantis day in and day out, any sleep or rest that she could come by Natalie didn't hesitate to take full advantage of that fact.

Natalie was just about all the way asleep when there was a loud banging on her door that made her jump awake, before she was able to get up and see who it was that was banging on her door it slid open to reveal Ronon.

"Come on Natalie, get up." Ronon said as he strode over to her and grabbed her arms and pulled her up and off of the bed.

"What the hell Ronon?" Natalie stated looking at him, wondering what the hell was going on that made him rush in the room as if the devil himself was on his heels. "What's gotten you so worked up?" she asked.

Ronon didn't say anything for a few moments he just grabbed Natalie's weapon's belt and shoved it at her, "We're being attacked, so hurry up and put that on." he commanded of her.

The second that Ronon finished saying that there was the sound of gunfire going off, probably only ten or fifteen feet from where there room was located at.

"Attacked?" Natalie questioned as she did as Ronon asked and put her weapons belt on and then started to strap her guns, short sword and small machete onto it. "Who the hell would be attacking us? We don't really have any major enemies other then the wraith and Genii." she stated and looked at him in confusion. "Is it the Genii?"

When she said that Ronon shook his head, "No." he told her simply, not elaborating on who it could be that was attacking them.

Natalie turned from putting her small machete on her belt and then gave Ronon a glare, "So who the hell is here attacking us then Ronon, because I seriously doubt that it's the wraith." she said to him with narrowed eyes.

Hesitating a moment Ronon sighed before he finally answered her, "It's the Abaroian people." he told her bluntly.

"What?" Natalie screeched as she suddenly looked at him. "How the hell did they find out about where we were?" she asked, though she knew he didn't know the answer to that question.

Natalie knew that neither her nor Lorne or Emilia let it slip where Atlantis was located at while they were held hostage by Altozia and his people; she was with them almost constantly, except for the few times that she did act out which in return she was punished for. But never in a million years did she believe that while she was gone during those torture sessions that Emilia and Lorne told their location; they knew not to do that no matter what.

"I don't know Natalie but we gotta go and fight," Ronon said to her as he waved his hand over the sensor and opened the door, he glanced around the corner of the doorway with his gun pointed in front of him in case there was any of Altozia's people around who wouldn't even think twice about killing them.

"Is Altozia alive?" Natalie asked with a hard look on her face as she and Ronon slowly made their way down the hall.

Ronon glanced at her and then nodded, "Yeah, he's still alive."

"I thought you guys killed him before you came back to Atlantis when you saved Lorne, Emilia and I." Natalie said as she glanced at Ronon while keeping a look out for any of the Abaroian people who may try and sneak up on them and attack them.

In response to that Ronon grunted, "Yeah, so did we." he said darkly, it annoyed Ronon to find out that the man that he was told was dead and that put his girlfriend through hell was still alive – he would make it his purpose to be sure that he was dead by the end of the night.

Natalie sighed in annoyance, "Great, isn't this just dandy." she said sarcastically. "The guy that tortured me and killed one of my best friends is still alive and now wandering around Atlantis with his followers." she shook her head. "This was not how I was hoping to spend my day."

Ronon smirked at that, "And what way were you hoping to spend it?" he asked as he glanced around the corner and saw two Abaroian soldiers.

The second that the two soldiers saw Ronon they started shooting at where he and Natalie were at; Ronon aimed his gun around the corner at one of the soldier's and shot him and was about to shoot the other one but Natalie did it for him.

Ronon looked down at her with a raised brow and Natalie just shrugged in response to that and grinned at him, "What can't let you shoot up everyone, you gotta learn how to share big guy." she told him jokingly.

In response to that Ronon shook his head, sometimes he really didn't get the Earth people's humor. "Come on," he said and grabbed her arm to have her follow him but Natalie pulled back.

Natalie looked at Ronon apologetically, "I can't go Ronon, I need to go and find Becky. This is her first time being in this sort of situation I can't just leave her to fend on her own – someone might go down there looking for our people and she'd be defenseless. She doesn't have any weapons in the Biology lab."

"I'm going with you," he told her fiercely.

At that Natalie shook her head, "No Ronon, you aren't. For one they need you where the action is going on at and two I can take care of myself. So go and help the others while I go and search for Becky. Okay." she told him.

Ronon was about to open his mouth to argue but once again they were shot at, Natalie turned towards where the gun fire was coming from and pointed her gun at the man and shot him right between the eyes.

"I hate it when people interrupt me." she said in annoyance. "I'll radio you when I get to Becky okay." she said to him and quickly leaned up and gave him a kiss. "Go kick some Abaroian ass." she said to him and then left to go and find Becky.

It bothered Ronon to let Natalie just go off on her own while they were being attacked but he knew that he had no choice, Natalie would go and find Becky one way or another and nothing would stop her not even Ronon. Sighing heavily Ronon ran off towards where all of the fighting was going on at, he was going to kill all the Abaroian people that he could get his hands on.

A/N: there you go, hope its an amazing chapter and REVIEW or else, well i have no idea what to threaten with so please just review.


	38. The Great Divide

Disclaimer: Not mine, never is though i wish i could claim Ronon Dex and the smexiness that is him.

A/N: so i had writers block for most of this week so that's why there hasnt been all that many updates, but i hope this makes you all happy. Theres more action to come after this chapter. Well kind of, drama, action killing and all that fun stuff. ENJOY!

Chapter thirty-eight

As stealthily and quietly as she could Natalie ran down the hallways with her gun held up defensively in case someone decided to try and attack her – if they did they definitely would not be coming out of that fight alive that was for sure. Turning down yet another hallway Natalie continued on her way to the Biology Lab to get Becky.

Becky may have been living in Atlantis for quite a while now and she might be able to somewhat fight now but she's never been in a life threatening situation before. She might h ave known that it would happen and knows what she was supposed to do if it happened but you never are truly prepared until you come face to face with the danger. Being in the Pegasus galaxy and living in Atlantis was dangerous, sure for the most part it's just science and field work and Becky isn't the one going off world where the real danger is but even so, it is dangerous place to live nonetheless. Natalie has learned first hand just how dangerous it is living there, not just from her time with Altozia but other missions that she has been on before.

Touching her ear comm Natalie tried radioing Becky, though she doubted that she would answer her. "Becky," Natalie whispered. "Becky come in, where are you. It's Natalie, answer me damn it." she demanded but still didn't get a response.

Natalie huffed in annoyance, one thing that bothered her about Becky was that Becky was prone to not wearing her ear comm at times she said that they bothered her and made her ear itch.

"Damn it Becky when I get my hands on you I am so duct taping your damn ear comm to your head." Natalie seethed.

Running around a corner to where the Biology Lab was at Natalie had to quickly duck and cover behind the wall, three of the Abaroian soldiers were shooting at her and one managed to get her in the arm. She was pissed now, they made her bleed on her favorite shirt.

Standing up but still staying close to the wall Natalie peaked over to where she knew the Abaroian soldiers were, there were four of them all heavily armed and heavily muscled. So that meant one thing, not hand to hand combat it would have to strictly be firearm only.

"You do realize your leader sent you on a suicide mission right?" Natalie yelled to them. "I mean there are ten times more of us then there are of you here, how are you expecting to get out of here alive?" she asked them.

One of the men laughed at her, "We will get out of here, or better yet we will overtake your home." he said arrogantly. "Just you wait, by the end of the day you all will be bowing down to us."

When he said that Natalie got a determined look on her face, and held up her version of Ronon's gun. "Really?" she asked them.

"Yes, you are all too weak." another man, much younger then the first said.

Natalie smirked to herself and quickly stepped out of the safety of the wall and shot at two of the soldiers, effectively killing them and then jumped back behind the wall but not before getting shot again, in the same arm.

Before Natalie was able to curse at the men for shooting her again her radio went off, "Where are you Natalie?" Ronon asked through the ear comm. "You should have made it to the Bio Lab by now. What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"Well I'm kind of in the middle of getting shot at," Natalie told him tersely. "Its really tons of fun." she told him sarcastically.

Ronon growled over the radio, "Where are you? I'm coming to you." he said to her.

Natalie rolled her eyes to herself, "No you aren't Ronon. I'm fine, nothing too major. Stay where you are. I can deal with this myself." she told him.

"Natalie," Ronon started but got cut off by her.

"Hold that thought," she said to him and then turned her attention back to the two soldiers that were shooting at her.

Peaking around the corner she shot one in the chest, the other aimed at her before Natalie could do the same to him and took a shot at her, she quickly crouched down and rolled onto the ground. Hurriedly she aimed her gun up at him and shot him right in between the eyes, sighing Natalie got back up on her feet.

"Ronon I'll radio you when I get to Becky." she said and then turned her radio off and continued down the hallway towards Becky, stepping over the bodies of the soldiers that she just killed.

Turning left down a hallway Natalie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was completely deserted, which meant that there shouldn't be anyone in or around the Biology Lab. Slowly Natalie entered the Biology lab and headed towards the room that she knew Becky worked in, scoping out the rooms just to be sure that there was no Abaroian soldier hiding in wait for an opportunity just like this.

"Becky," Natalie whispered. "Becky are you here?" she asked again a bit louder.

There was the sound of movement coming from a cupboard, cautiously Natalie headed over to the said cupboard with her gun pointed at it and then she carefully opened it. There scrunched up inside the cupboard was Becky, who looked to be quite uncomfortable.

Natalie gave her an amused smile, "Seriously?" she asked. "How the hell did you fit in here?" she asked.

"Not easily I can tell you that." she said to her and stuck her arm out. "A little help would be nice." she said to her.

Shaking her head at her friend Natalie grabbed Becky's hand and hauled her out of the cupboard, "Are you okay?" she asked looking at her friend intently.

At that Becky nodded, "Yeah just a bit freaked out is all. Never been in a situation like this before." she told her.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah I know." she said and pulled out her normal gun and handed it to Becky. "Here."

"What?" Becky asked and immediately shook her head. "No Nat, I don't need that." she said to her backing away from her a bit.

Sighing Natalie looked at Becky, "You need this because you and I are going back out there and getting to the others." she said as she walked back towards the exit of the lab. "Unless of course you would rather stay here and let them come to you and find you vulnerable in here without a weapon." she said with a raised brow.

Hearing that Becky gave Natalie a glare, "Fine." she said taking the gun from Natalie.

"One rule using the gun," Natalie said and paused for a moment. "You shoot to kill, no exceptions." she told her seriously.

At that Becky hesitated, "Nat I don't thi-"

Natalie cut her off, "No exceptions Becky." she told her fiercely. "If you don't aim to kill then you will end up being the one killed and I don't want that to happen to you. I'm the one who would have to go back down to Earth and tell your grandmother. So you will shoot to kill you got it."

"Okay, I'll do it." Becky said with a nod.

So with that said and done the two girls quickly left the Biology Lab and headed towards where all of the fighting was going on at – the gate Room. Becky wasn't so sure about going head first into battle so to say but she knew that if she wanted to stay alive that it was best to stick with Natalie.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

It didn't take Natalie and Becky all that long to find out where all of the fighting was happening at, sure they could hear gun fire and fighting going on all over the place but mainly it was coming from the Gate Room which was where Natalie figured everyone was at.

Without a second thought Natalie jumped right into the fight; killing everyone and anything that wasn't one of the Atlantean's and doing her damnedest to find Altozia – she was going to make him suffer like she did and hopefully send his ass to hell. Of course that was after she figured out who it was that gave them the information on where Atlantis was, they couldn't just let anybody know the coordinates.

While fighting Natalie made sure to keep Becky in her line of sight, making sure that she would be able to jump in and help if Becky needed it. It seemed, at least from what Natalie could see that all of those self defense lessons were really coming in handy to Becky. She was taking care of herself pretty well.

"Natalie behind you!" Becky yelled at her.

Turning around Natalie punched a gun in the face who was trying to sneak up on her and then did a round house kick to another guy that was besides her, pushing him over she stomped on his hand and aimed her gun at one of the other soldiers and killed him before he could get to one of the Atlantean's.

It didn't take long for the people of Atlantis to gain the upper hand and disarm any of the remaining Abaroian people and round them all up and make them sit in the middle of the Stargate Room. It wasn't like there were very many to start with anyways and even less now since quite a few had been killed in the fighting.

"You're hurt," Ronon said as he stood in front of Natalie and looked down at her left arm that had two bullet wounds in them. "And you didn't radio me." he said gruffly.

At that Natalie sighed, "Sorry me and Becky were kind of busy running over here." she told him.

He gave her an annoyed look but let it go, "You should go see Beckett," Ronon told her.

"I'm fine," Natalie said waving his concern off. "Is Altozia still alive?" she asked changing the subject.

"Yeah," he answered her. "Won't be for much longer though." he said as he charged his gun back up.

Natalie narrowed her eyes when he said that. "If anyone is going to kill him it's going to be me, I am the one that he did the most damage to." she told him with a deadly look in her eyes.

Becky interrupted, "Are you sure you really want to kill him Nat? I mean I get that he put you through hell but is killing him really worth it?" she asked.

Both Ronon and Natalie looked at Becky, both forgetting that she had been standing there with them.

"Yeah Becky," Natalie said with a nod. "it'd be worth it." she told her seriously and then looked at Ronon. "Where is he?" she asked as she looked around the Stargate room where the other soldiers of Altozia's were gathered up at.

Ronon gestured towards the stairs, "Up in the conference room, Carter figured it would be better that way. Wouldn't be able to manipulate his people." he told her as he gave her an understanding look.

Breathing in deeply Natalie took off and headed up the stairs towards the conference room before Ronon or Becky were able to say anything else to her, as Natalie entered the conference room Carter and the others looked at her not sure if they should restrain her or not.

"Natalie I don't thi-" Carter started.

Before Carter was able to finish her sentence Ronon barged into the room and stood behind Natalie supportively; John, Teyla, Rodney, Lorne and Emilia were all in the conference room as well so that they could deal with Altozia.

"Well it's a party now," John said which earned him a glare from Carter.

Carter turned back towards Natalie, "Natalie I don't think that it is wise for you to be here right now." she said to her softly. "You are the one who had the worst experience with him and you are very emotional right now." she said to her. "I think it would be best if you would go back to your room."

At that Natalie narrowed her eyes at Carter, "No. I'm staying. I at least deserve that and you know it. He killed my brother, my best friend I deserve to be here more then anyone." she argued.

Carter opened her mouth to argue again but Ronon looked down at her, "We're staying." he said determinedly.

"All right." she said, Carter knew when she was arguing a lost battle.

Natalie stepped farther into the conference room and went over and approached Altozia where he was tied up at, when he saw her approaching he smirked at her and looked her up and down as if he was trying to undress her with his eyes,

"I see you healed up well," he sneered at her.

Scoffing Natalie crossed her arms and looked down at him, "Yeah, no thanks to you." she stated.

He laughed at that, "Well, if it was up to me _Lady_," he said to her, insinuating that Natalie really wasn't a lady. "You and your friends would have never made it off of my planet, in fact I would have kept you as my personal whore."

Once he finished that sentence Ronon tried to jump at Altozia so that he could strangle or kill him but John jumped in front of him before he could go through with that plan and shook his head. Ronon grunted and stood back behind Natalie and kept a steady glare on Altozia, as much as he wanted to kill Altozia he couldn't they had to find out how exactly the Abaroian people got Atlantis' gate address.

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. Please review as usual. if not i may withhold cookies and hot chocolate or something of that sort. Or for you more of age people no sex on the beach drinks or any alcohol at all.


	39. Dead!

Disclaimer: As usual not mine, never will be no matter how mcuh i beg and hope and pray for a life sied Ronon to appear in my home and have his naughty satedan way with me.

A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update this but i've been side tracked and whatnot and thinking up idea's for a few other stories that i havae in mind. So please do forgive me.

Chapter thirty-nine

For the next two hours Carter and the others questioned Altozia on how exactly he got the coordinates of Atlantis but so far he has kept his mouth shut, not saying anything and only taunting Natalie and the others. It was pissing Natalie off with how closed mouth and quiet Altozia was being about everything, they had captured him and had him tied to the chair and if they wanted to they could kill him right where he say but he was being arrogant and believed that they wouldn't kill him. By the end of the day Natalie would make sure that Altozia was dead, whether with permission or not.

"Who gave you our gate address?" Carter asked as she slammed her hands onto the table in front of her while glaring at Altozia.

In response to that Altozia grinned widely, "Now why exactly would I go and tell you that information?" he asked her rhetorically. "One way or another you're going to kill me so whats the point?" he asked.

"We could make a deal," Carter said to him.

Altozia laughed when she said that, "I very much doubt that," he said as he turned to look over at Emilia and Lorne. "Ahh if it isn't the little girl who cried most of the time she was under my care. I do wish I would have had a chance to play with you. We could have had some fun if that one over there hadn't misbehaved all of the time." he said as he gestured towards Natalie.

Lorne glared at Altozia, "Don't you look at her." he said fiercely.

"Don't bother threatening me," Altozia said. "Your little lover there isn't really my type, I like mine ferocious and beautiful." he said as he glanced at Natalie with a smirk on his face. "I like breaking their spirit."

Ronon growled at that, "Tell us who gave you our location." he said to him darkly, getting annoyed with all of this unneeded conversation.

"No," Altozia said smiling at him. "I don't think I will."

Sighing heavily Carter turned away from Altozia and looked at Natalie and the others, "Maybe we should hold this off until tomorrow, maybe a bit of his own medicine will do him good. Not give him any food or water." she told her.

Hearing that Lorne snorted, "It wont work against him." he said quietly to be sure that Altozia couldn't hear him. "That's just a small thing compared to what he does for torture, believe me Carter what we put in our reports was only a softened version of what went down." he said to her.

"Even so," Carter said with a pained expression at Lorne's admission. "I still think it would be best if we just waited until morning to deal with him." she said.

Natalie vehemently shook her head, "No." she said to her with a hard look. "I'm not leaving until I get some damn answers, I don't care if I have to stay up for two days straight I am going to get what I want." she said and looked away from Carter and back at Altozia who was looking around the conference room in boredom.

Rubbing the back of her neck in frustration Carter sighed, she knew the look on Natalie's face well, it was a look that meant Natalie was going to do it her way no matter what she said so Carter might as well agree. "Fine, but you cant be alone with him." she said to her with a pointed look.

"I'll stay," Ronon offered as he stared at Altozia.

Carter raised her brow at that and looked between Natalie and Ronon hesitantly, "No offense Ronon but that's not much better. Both you and Natalie want to kill Altozia." she told them with a tight smile.

"I will stay," Teyla told her as she went and stood by Natalie giving her a gentle smile.

"Yeah me too," John said nodding in agreement.

Carter looked over at Emilia and Lorne, "Let me guess, you two are staying as well." she said knowingly.

Emilia nodded and crossed her arms, "No way we're leaving, he put us and Natalie through hell and killed James. We're staying here, if only for moral support."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Soon after Carter left, along with any others who didn't want to stay Natalie started to interrogate Altozia about how he got his intel – though it was going to be a very long night considering that he was being very closed mouth about it.

"I would have fun breaking a beautiful and fierce woman like you," Altozia said looking at Natalie who was sitting a few feet away from him in a chair. "I would have broken you until you would have begged me to take you, I would have treated you like the dirt you are and you would have begged for more. I would-"

Before he was able to finish that statement Ronon hit him in the face and glared down at him, he knew that Altozia was taunting them but he would not let him talk about Natalie like that. "I could kill you right now you know, I wouldn't feel bad."

Altozia laughed, "But you won't." he said with a smirk and turned towards Natalie. "You aren't going to let him are you."

In response to that Natalie just glared; Altozia was right Natalie wont kill him until she got the information that she wanted from him. Finding out who gave Altozia the coordinates to Atlantis was top priority, sadly more important then killing Altozia in retaliation for what he did to her and her friends. All bets are off though once she figures out who betrayed the Atlantean's trust.

"Look," John said as he glared at Altozia. "We're not here to listen to you be a jackass and a pervert so tell us who gave you the gate address. Once you tell us we will all be more then happy to leave you alone." he told him.

Altozia laughed at him, "Yes, and the second that I do they will both kill me," he said gesturing at Ronon and Natalie. "You wouldn't be able to stop them." he said to him.

John shrugged, "If it was up to me you would already be dead." he told him honestly. "But I was ordered not to kill you sadly, so I can honestly say that I promise that you will not be killed while here." he said to him with a disgusted sigh.

"Well isn't that just thoughtful of you," he said with a sinister grin. "Even with that admission I still am not going to tell you anything. Your people are not trustworthy." he said to him.

Narrowing her eyes at him Natalie pulled her regular gun out on him an shot him in the shoulder, as much as she wished she could have given him a fatal injury she knew that she would get in deep shit for that.

"How's that feel?" Natalie asked him condescendingly.

"Natalie!" Teyla said and took Natalie's gun away from her. "You need to stay calm, injuring him will not do anything to get what we want out of him."

Natalie glanced at Teyla, "I am calm, I didn't kill him did I?" she asked with a half smile.

"You think this is pain, that this is torture?" Altozia asked with a grin. "You are sadly mistaken, this is not pain."

At that Emilia glanced at him and glared, "If it was up to me you would be killed and tortured for everything that you did while we were on your planet, you would be tortured for what you put Natalie through, for killing our friend James and for keeping us there against our will." she said to him darkly. "You and your people deserve to die, you all are nothing better then animals."

He just grinned, "But are we going to die?" he questioned with a smirk. "Your leader told you to not kill me, I doubt that any of you would dare disobey would you? I think I will just stay here and enjoy this break from having to be a leader to my village." he said to them.

Natalie growled to herself and slammed her hands on the table, "I will do everything and anything in my power to figure out exactly who you got that information from Altozia. If I want to be I can be very convincing, I am sure there are some weak willed men under your command that I can go and persuade." she said to him challengingly. "I am no way against bribery and threats."

"You can try but they won't talk," Altozia said confidently. "They are loyal only to me." he told her.

At that Lorne scoffed, "I'm pretty sure their self preservation is a bit stronger then their loyalty to you." he told him. "I'm sure they would rather live to see another day then die because they didn't tell us something that we wanted to know."

Ronon crossed his arms and looked at Altozia hatefully, "Tell us who gave you our location before we start taking out your men or before they start talking and making deals with us."

Altozia looked at him in amusement when he said that, "As great as that sounds, because really giving you my informants name sounds splendid but alas, I am going to have once again, refuse your offer." he told him.

"He's not going to tell us anything," Emilia said in a defeated tone as she turned and looked at Natalie and Lorne sadly. "He's leading us on purposefully, pretending that he might tell us and then denying us. He's toying with us." she stated.

"That's his specialty." Natalie ground out.

John looked at the group, "We'll wear him out, believe me we will find out who gave him that information if it's the last thing we do." he whispered loudly to them.

Just as Lorne opened his mouth to say something Natalie started talking into her ear comm, one of the Atlantis teams were working on talking with Altozia's men and trying to convince them to give them the information they wanted.

"Go," Natalie said into her ear comm.

"Vance, this is Dekker," the soldier on her ear comm said. "We've got a talker here." he said to her, it was obvious from his tone of voice that he was grinning.

Natalie nodded, "Okay, what's the verdict?" she asked him.

"We found out that it was one of the Genii that gave them the information as to where we are located. Once he started talking so did all of the others, giving us information on what Altozia and the Genii have been talking about and that they were plotting against Atlantis hoping to take us down." he said to her. "What should I do with them?"

"Take the first one to Carter to deal with and talk to, the rest put down in holding cells." she replied to him. "Vance out." she said and then turned towards Altozia with a smile.

Looking towards Altozia Natalie grinned which was definitely a bad sign for Altozia, "Guess what Altozia." she said to him. "Your men aren't as faithful to you as you are to them _Sir_, it seems that they value their life a lot more then they value you." she told him.

When she said that Altozia looked at her in shock, not believing that his men had actually betrayed him to save their own lives. "You lie."

"No Altozia," Natalie said to him. "I don't lie. I tell it like it is." she told him.

John laughed, "So much for your people being loyal to you." he said to him.

Ronon looked from Natalie to John, "So can we kill him now?" he asked.

When Ronon said that John sighed and rubbed at his forehead, "No Chewie, as much as I'd like for you to kill him we can't." he said him and hesitantly looked at Natalie who was looking at him with rage, he understood her anger but he had to follow what Carter said to him.

"You're going to let him go?" Natalie asked quietly, narrowing her eyes at John.

At that John winced, "Natalie, I'm doing what Carter told me to and that's to not kill him. I don;t know what she will do with him, maybe if he gives her the right information she'll send him on his way to Earth where he will be watched constantly while adjusting there or maybe she'll keep him locked up here."

Teyla laid her hand on Natalie's arm, "We've captured him Natalie, is that not enough justice. We've finally caught the man who had done you and your friends wrong."

"No!" Natalie yelled pulling away from Teyla. "He deserves more then just being captured, he deserves to go through what we all did," she said and gestured to herself, Lorne and Emilia. "i want him dead just like James is now."

John looked at Natalie sympathetically, "I know Nat, but we can't kill him. Carter wants him alive." he said to her.

Just as Natalie was about to respond to that Altozia began to manically laugh, he looked towards Natalie with a grin. "You wanted justice but in the end all you get is me staying alive. I am basically free." he said to her without dropping the grin from his face.

Lorne glared, "You aren't free," he stated to him with a deadly look on his face. "You are going to pay for what you did, you are going to be sitting in a cell all alone and you are going to be treated as trash just like how you treated us." he said scathingly and then grabbed Emilia's hand and pulled her out of the room in anger.

Altozia turned his eyes at Natalie once again, "Did I say something to offend him?" he asked innocently.

"You will get what you deserve, just you wait." Natalie told him threateningly. "I will personally see to it that you do get punished." she said to him.

"You want me dead don't you?" Altozia asked.

Teyla grabbed Natalie's arm and tried to pull her towards the door, "Come Natalie, don't listen to him let us leave. We've done all that we can, let John deal with him now." she told her.

Natalie tugged her arm out of Teyla's grasp and stared at Altozia, "I would do anything for you to be dead right now instead of James, I would torture you like you did to me, kill you and then bring you back to life and do it all over again until I've decided that you've paid enough for what you did to me and my friends." she told him honestly.

"But I never will pay," Altozia told her with a smirk. "You never will get the justice you so desire, I am too useful to them and have information on the Genii. In return for me giving them information on the Genii I will get off and go on my way."

At that Natalie breathed in deeply and narrowed her eyes at him, "You won't get the chance," she told him.

"And why is that?" Altozia asked.

The second John heard Altozia finish saying that and after he saw the look on Natalie;s face he knew exactly was what going to happen. Natalie pulled out her gun and shot Altozia right between the eyes, making sure that he was really dead this time and no way for him to come back and haunt her. There was no way in hell that she was going to go through what she just went through, he was going to be good and dead from now on so that he couldn't hurt anyone else.

"Natalie wh-" John started but was cut off by Ronon sending him a sharp glare.

Ronon stared down at Natalie who was still holding her gun up and aiming at Altozia's body and carefully he wrapped his arms around her, one of his arms going towards her shaking hands and taking the gun away from her and the other wrapping securely around her waist.

The second Ronon took the gun away from her Natalie turned in Ronon's arms and pressed herself as close to him as she could and started to cry, the events of the day getting to her and talking to Altozia and having to relive the memories that she had of him just emotionally and physically draining her.

"Everything is okay now Natalie," Ronon said gently as he began to rub Natalie's back soothingly. "You killed him, hes dead and he's never coming back now. You made sure of that." he told her into her ear.

John looked at Ronon and then at Natalie, "Ronon, we should tell Carter. I don't know how she's going to take to this." he said as he ran a hand through his hair.

At that Ronon glared at John, "No." he told him adamantly. "You can tell Carter what happened but I am taking Natalie to get her arm fixed up and then we are going to our room. I don't care if Carter comes to our room and demands to see Natalie, shes not going to. Natalie has been through too much right now to really talk to anyone." he said to him fiercely.

"Okay, but Carter will want to talk to her soon." John said not even bothering with arguing with Ronon, he knew a lost battle when he saw one.

"And she can, once Natalie has slept and dealt with everything." Ronon said and grabbed Natalie's rood arm and began to lead her out of the conference room and towards where he knew Keller and Carson were at.

After getting Natalie bandaged up Ronon immediately took her back to their room; Natalie was still in her comatose state only staring blankly in front of her and crying a bit still. So Ronon took charge and changed Natalie out of her dirty, battle worn clothes and into what she usually slept in – a pair of shorts and a small tank top that showed more skin then it covered really. After changing out of his fighting clothes Ronon joined Natalie on the bed and pulled the covers over both of them and pulled Natalie up next to him and offered any sort of comfort that he could to her; he didn't have to speak for Natalie to know that he was there for her if she needed him. Natalie knew that he loved her and would support her and do anything for her if she just asked it.

A/N: Love you guys, hope you all enjoyed it. YAY! Altozia is finally dead. Nat, well she aint dealing very well with al lof the memories that it drudged up. Hmm, what is going to happen next. Who wants to me to give them a hint? If any of you reviewers do i will reposnd ot your review and givec you a hint at what's gonna happen.


	40. Forgotten Faces

Disclaimer: Not mine sadly, so wish it was but its not. Enjoy!

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get this out but i got lazy and had writers block. Then after that a family friend died just this past week so i had ot deal with the shock of that.

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter i had a few issues with it but i finally got it to a place where i like it.

Chapter forty

When Natalie woke up the next morning it was early still, only four or five in the morning but she couldn't sleep any longer – her mind was too busy with thinking about everything that happened the day before. So Natalie just sat in bed and stared at Ronon, without him she would feel so lost. He was her rock, her anchor, her strength and her soul mate.

"Natalie," Ronon asked groggily as he stared up at Natalie blinking a few times. "What are you doing up?" he asked as he pushed himself into a sitting position and looked down at her in concern.

Natalie gave him a half hearted smile, "Just thinking, I couldn't sleep." she explained to him.

When she said that Ronon looked at her, "Nightmares?" he asked.

At that Natalie shook her head, "No, no nightmares. Which is surprising." she said to him. "I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened yesterday and I'm just glad that he's dead finally." she said with a sigh of relief. "I feel so much more free now."

"If you wouldn't have killed him I would have," Ronon said to her as he moved over to Natalie's side of the bed and sat behind her and pulled her against his chest and leaned against the wall that the bed was pushed against. "You okay though? With everything that happened and how things went down?"

Natalie gave a dry laugh, "Yeah I'm fine Ronon." she said as she shifted a bit and turned her head and rested it in the crook of his neck. "It's not like he was the first person I've ever killed before." she told him.

Ronon laughed at that, "I know," he said to her as he rubbed his thumbs up and down Natalie's ribs. "I've seen you fight before and spar against you. I know what you can do." he told her.

"I don't regret what I did," Natalie told him. "I don't regret going against Carter's and Sheppard's orders and killing him. He deserved it." she said to him quietly.

"I know, I'm not judging you." Ronon said to her. "he deserved worse then what you gave him, he should have been put through what you and your team were put through. If it was up to me that was what would have happened to him."

Hearing that Natalie looked up at Ronon, "Well lets just be happy that he's dead now." she said to him as she turned around and straddled his waist and looked down at him. "Do you really want to talk about killing people right now when we could be doing something much more fun and interesting?" Natalie asked him with a shit eating grin on her face.

Ronon smirked at her, "No, I can think of something much better to do then talking about dead people." he told her as he slowly inched his hands under Natalie's shirt, slightly teasing her ribs until he got to her bra-less breasts and firmly massaged them and pinched at her nipples.

In response to that Natalie hummed and steadied herself by resting her hands on Ronon;s shoulders. "Such a breast man," she said with a smirk on her face.

"I'm a man," Ronon said as if it should be obvious and cupping her breasts once more and slowly trailed his hands downwards.

Sitting further up Natalie grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off and threw it in some direction in her's and Ronon's room; when Ronon saw Natalie's naked torso he grinned and grabbed her by the waist and switched their positions so that Natalie was on the bottom and Ronon on top.

Natalie pouted at him, "I like being on top." she said to him.

"Too bad," Ronon said as he started to take her sleeping pants and underwear off. "It's my turn this time." he said to her deeply and leaned down and kissed her passionately.

In response to that Natalie wrapped on arm around his neck and ran her other hand up and down his naked chest and played with the top of his sleeping pants, giving his hard erection the barest of touches just to tease and torture Ronon.

With a groan Ronon pulled away from Natalie and looked down into her playful face, she was grinning at him and slowly licked her lips enticingly. Natalie leaned up towards Ronon on her hands and kissed behind his ear, "Something feels awfully hard below the belt," she said to him. "Can I play with it?"

"Oh you are going to get to do much more then play," Ronon said to her.

"Well lets get these things off of you and have some fun," Natalie said ot him as she tugged on the hem of his pants.

Ronon looked down at her, "All you had to do was ask." he said to her and got up and off of her and took his pants off and revealed himself in all his glory.

Crawling towards the end of the bed Natalie stared at Ronon, well the lower part of him. "Now that is much more like it." she said as she knelt on the bed and grabbed Ronon by the arm and pulled down onto the bed with her.

Smiling Ronon grabbed Natalie and pushed her up higher on the bed and grabbed her legs so that they were on either side of his waist, their lower bodies pressing tightly against one and another. In response to that Natalie grabbed Ronon's very hard member and stroked him a few times before positioning him in place; Ronon sat up on his knees a bit and grabbed Natalie's thighs and suddenly thrust into her making Natalie moan loudly.

"Holy shit," Natalie breathed as she grabbed Ronon by one of his dreadlocks and pulled him down for a passionate and hard kiss.

Every time Natalie and Ronon had sex it was as if it was the first time; it was always so intense, passionate and like fire running through their bodies.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~ A Few Hours Later ~0~0~0~0~0~0~ 

Natalie woke up the second time that day to someone yelling and banging on her's and Ronon's door, "Natalie Rose Vance! Wake up right now!" Becky yelled at her.

Groaning Natalie rolled over in Ronon's arms and glanced at the clock that was on her night stand, it was almost one in the afternoon. Natalie and Ronon basically slept the day away, well and sexed each other up for a good portion of the morning. For a few moments Natalie thought about ignoring her friend's knocking and just going back to sleep that but that dream was quickly dashed by Becky once again banging on the door.

"Come on Nat, get your ass up!" Becky yelled.

Sighing heavily Natalie got out from under Ronon's arm and grabbed one of his shirts and slipped it over her head, walking over to the door Natalie waved her hand over the sensor and gave Becky a tired smile as the door slid open.

"Hey Becky." she asked as she leaned against the door frame.

"Don't you ever wear clothes?" Becky asked shaking her head.

Natalie smiled at that, "Sometimes, usually when Ronon isn't trying to take them off of me." she told her jokingly.

Becky groaned when she said that, "Right."

"So what's up?" Natalie asked her.

When she asked that Becky gave her a pointed look and rested her hands on her hips, "You could at least have radioed me and told me that everything went find last night, I've been worrying about you all morning and afternoon." she said to her fiercely.

At that Natalie scoffed, "Becky it's only one, barely even half way into the afternoon. Besides you never have your radio on you remember." she said to her knowingly.

"That's besides the point," Becky told her. "What are you doing getting up so late? You never sleep in this badly." she told her.

Natalie gave a small grin when Becky asked that, "Me and Ronon might have had a late night." she said to her sheepishly.

Hearing that Becky smiled tightly, "Right, I don't want to know anymore then that." she told her with a shake of her head.

"Wasn't gonna tell you anything else anyways," she said with a playful smile.

"So," Becky said looking at Natalie. "Are you available to hang out with right now or what?" she asked.

Smiling Natalie nodded, "I always have time to hang with my friends," she told her. "Besides from the way Ronon is sleeping I doubt he'll wake up for a while yet. Just let me write him a note and get dressed. I'll be out in a sec." she told her.

Becky nodded, "Not like I'm going anywhere." she said to her as she leaned against the wall across from Natalie's room.

At that Natalie smiled, "Better not." she said as she waved her hand over the sensor to shut it and then hurriedly got dressed.

Going over to her dresser Natalie grabbed a plain v neck shirt sleeved green shirt and a pair of brown cargo pants; seeing as her usual everyday outfit was all bloody and grimy from the fight last night she had to opt for something else.

Pulling her boots on Natalie grabbed her notebook and wrote Ronon a note telling him that she was going to hang out for Becky for a while and then go to the gym or something afterwards, setting the notebook on her side of the bed Natalie left the room.

"So where do you wanna go?" Becky asked her.

"The pier sound good?" Natalie asked her as they started to make their way to the transporters. "I miss the water." she told her.

Becky shrugged, "Sure, doesn't matter to me." she told her as she followed Natalie onto the transporter.

Pressing the button for the level that the pier was on Natalie and Becky sat in relative silence, both just enjoying being in each others company even if they weren't saying anything. They didn't have to, they've known each other since they were seven years old they knew each other well enough to not have to fill ever single moment of silence with talk.

"So how were you after everything last night?" Natalie asked Becky as they were walking along the pier, along 'her' pier.

"Fine," Becky told her. "A little shaken up at you know all the fighting and killing but otherwise I was perfectly fine. No injuries or anything like that." she told her.

"That's good," Natalie said to her. "I'd have to kick some major ass if you were hurt or kick your ass for not keeping up on your self defense lessons." she said to her with a joking smile.

In response to that Becky gave her a soft smile, "What about you?" she asked. "You had more to deal with them me, you know having to see the man that captured and tortured you." she said.

Natalie shrugged, "I'm fine." she told her. "Altozia is dead and that's all that matters. He can't hurt me, haunt me or do anything like that anymore." she said confidently.

Hearing that Becky turned to Natalie, "He's dead?" she asked in surprise. "No one told me that." she said .

"Yeah," Natalie said with a nod. "I killed him." she told her without remorse.

Becky looked at Natalie not believing what she was hearing, "You killed him?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Becky this shouldn't be any surprise, you know I've killed people before," Natalie told her softly. "it;s apart of my job description. I don't know why this would be a shock to you." she told her.

"But he was captured by you guys and in your possession why did you have to kill him," Becky said to her. "He wasn't able to hurt you or anyone else anymore, there wasn't a reason for you to kill him when he was defenseless." she told her.

At that Natalie stopped and looked at Becky, "I had more then just a reason to kill him Becky, I have a handful of reasons to kill him." she said to her. "He killed my friend who was like a brother to me, he tried to starve me and my team, he tried to kill me, he tortured me and kept us hostage for days until we would hopefully break." she told her passionately. "I had more then just a reason to kill him."

"But he was tied up, why did you need to kill him? SG command could have dealt with him." she said to her.

Natalie shook her head, "And let him get away and do this to some other unsuspecting person. No way." she said with a grimace. "I don;t care how well SG command is at watching people he would have found way to get away from them and more then likely they would have given him a second chance at life on earth in turn for information. It wouldn't be worth it for him to live to make someone elses life miserable."

"I just don't get it Natalie," Becky said shaking her head in disappointment. "I get that you have to kill people with your job, that they try to kill you and in turn you defend yourself and everything. But killing Altozia when he didn't even have the ability to attack you doesn't make sense. You should have let the SG Command take care of him, they would have done what was right."

"You don't understand that they wouldn't have done what they needed to do," Natalie told her. "They would have let him live, he didn't deserve to live." she said passionately.

Becky stared at Natalie and shook her head, "How can you be so heartless about human life, how can you not care that you killed a man that was defenseless against you?" she yelled at her with a disgusted look on her face.

Natalie seethed, "Because of what he did to me, because of how he killed James, because of what he did to me, because of how he seemed to enjoy watching me suffer and be in pain. He enjoyed it too much, more often then not I angered him so that Emilia wouldn't be tortured. If that's not what you want to hear too bad Becky, but this is me. I am a warrior here in Atlantis and I do what I have to even if it is against the rules, killing Altozia was against the rules but I couldn't chance letting him live."

"I, I just don't know what to say." Becky said shaking her head.

"Then don't," Natalie said to her fiercely. "Until you can come to terms with me as this and realize that man who put me through hell deserved to die then don't bother talking to me." she said in anger and stalked away.

Becky tried to grab Natalie's arm, "Nat-"

"No Becky, just don't." she said to her and pulled her arm out of her friends grasp and stalked back inside of Atlantis intending on going to the gym to blow off some of her anger at her friend.

Natalie and Becky have been friends for eighteen years and like any friends they have fights, they argue and don't agree on things that the other do. Friendship is like a relationship, you have to talk and argue and fight to make it worth it. Natalie hated fighting with Becky, she is the one person other then her family that has known her the longest. It hurt to fight with her but Natalie was not one to just agree with someone or let them yell at her when she believed she did something right.

A/N: There is is, chapter forty hope you all liked it. Tell me what you think and review. If you don't i may go and cry in my emo corner.

Quote of the day: Be yourself and nobody else - my own personal quote


	41. At The Heart of It All

Disclaimer: Not mine obviously but if i could claim someone RONON is MINE!

A/N:Soooooorrrrrry for not updating in forever my laptop keyboard was broke and my bro in law had to order a part from china and whatnot and that took a few weeks and hten i had writers block for like a month straight so it didnt go well.

A/N2: Guess what, I am officially going back to college this coming august, I'm hoping it goes better this time. So excited! I know some of you don't care but I am sharing the news with you anyways. Anywho here's the chapter

Chapter forty-one

After the fight with Becky, Natalie decided to just walk around Atlantis for a while in the abandoned lower part of Atlantis – no one really went down there all that often so it was less likely for Natalie to be interrupted when she wanted to be alone and try and calm down from her confrontation with Becky.

Natalie understood where Becky was coming from, Becky has never had to face life and death situations before so she isn't very comfortable with killing people even if they do deserve to die. When Natalie first came to Atlantis she was like Becky, not very comfortable with the idea of killing but soon after she arrived she got over that after she was put in a situation where it was either kill or be killed. You can't hesitate if it means your life is at stake – Natalie was nearly killed because she hesitated.

"So this is where you've been hiding out at."

"Jesus Fucking a monkey!" Natalie screamed in surprise and jumped up from her chair taking on a defensive position, when she saw who it was she glared in annoyance. "Are you trying to kill me or something John?"

John smirked at her, "You and I both know that I would be a goner in ten seconds flat if I decided to try and kill you, plus Ronon would kill me ten times over if I even joked about something like that." he said to her. "Don't tell Ronon I said this but he scares the shit out of me."

When he said that Natalie gave a half smile, "I think he scares most of everyone here on Atlantis." she told him.

"Not you," John commented.

"No," Natalie said with a shake of her head. "Not me. We're too much a like for him to be able to scare me. I don't back down from anything." she said more to herself then to John.

For a few moments neither Natalie nor John said much of anything, Natalie was just sitting in her chair and staring blankly at the wall and John was watching Natalie and waiting for her to say something to him.

"So how's it going?" John asked looking at her expectantly. "Anything new going on with you?"

When he asked that Natalie stared at him with a raised brow wondering what It was that he was up to exactly, "Yeah John soooo much is going on, I'm having a party can't you tell." she said to him sarcastically. "What does it look like I'm doing John?" she asked.

John held his hands up in a peaceful way, "No need to be snarky with me, I was just asking what was going on. No need to bite my head off." he said to her.

"I'm not being snarky," Natalie said with a pout and crossed her arms. "I'm being...something else."

At that John smirked, "You're being snarky Natalie, admit it." he said to her with an amused look on his face.

Natalie rolled her eyes at him, "Whatever." she said and looked out the window before she turned back to looking at John. "So why are you really here John? I'm not stupid, I know you came looking for me for a reason."

John should have known that Natalie would be able to figure him out, she's far too observative for her own good sometimes. "What I can't just come here to see how one of my good friends is doing after a stressful and long night?" he asked her innocently.

"John," Natalie said with a sigh. "I am not in the mood right now so out with it, what you are here for." she said to him.

Giving her a resigned look John told her, "Becky told me what happened between you and her, she asked me if I would come and talk to you." he stated.

Hearing that Natalie scoffed, "What she couldn't come here herself and talk to me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, she knew that you would act like this and not want to talk to her if she would have came so she sent me to be the referee so to say," John said to her calmly. "So here I am." he said with a shrug.

"Yay," Natalie said unenthusiastically.

John gave her a look when she said that, "Well no need to be jumping for joy." he said to her.

Natalie couldn't help but laugh a bit at that, "I'll try and hold myself back." she stated with a half smile on her face.

"So now that we're done with our little bantering session wanna talk about what happened with you and Becky?" John asked eyeing Natalie carefully, he really would rather not get on her bad side he's never had to experience that and he would prefer to keep it that way.

Giving a heavy sigh Natalie nodded at John before starting to tell him what happened, "I told her what I did, what went down last night after me and Ronon left to go and deal with Altozia and try and get information out of him. I told her that after we got what we needed out of him that I killed him point blank." she said to him with a troubled look on her face. "I don't regret what I did to him you know, I don't feel bad about killing him at all. He deserved worse then what he got."

When Natalie finished saying that she looked up at John with such a pained expression on her face; Natalie went through so much when she was on that planet – being tortured, hit, beat, taunted, starved and then having to watch one of her best friends slowly die right in front of her. Having to go through all of that was a lot for any person to go through, even someone who was as stubborn and strong willed as Natalie. Then after months of thinking that the whole situation with Altozia was over and that she didn't have to worry about him anymore he came and infiltrated Atlantis.

"I'm not judging you Natalie," John said looking at her with an understanding look. "If I was in your situation I would have done the exact same thing without a second thought and without feeling regret over him being dead." he told her.

"See if you kill someone Becky wont care because she expects that of a military guy," Natalie said gesturing at him angrily. "But me, I can't kill someone without being called a heartless bitch."

John sighed and ran his hands through his hair, how he got himself dragged into the middle of a fight between two girls he didn't know. "Nat you aren't heartless, you do what needs to be done to make sure no one else will be hurt." he said to her. "Becky's really torn up over your two's fight, she knew what she said was stupid and that she regret's saying those things to you."

When he said that Natalie scoffed in disbelief, "If she didn't mean them then why did she say them in the first place?" she asked him with a raised brow.

"From what you told me you left for college right out of high school right?" John asked her, Natalie nodded at him in response to that so he continued. "You left Minnesota for DC only a few weeks after graduating high school and you went back for visits a few times a year, you and Becky stayed close through out the years but once you were recruited to come to Atlantis you had to change and adjust to the everyday life of living here – if you didn't you wouldn't have even lasted a month here. Becky is a scientist, she isn't used to the fighting that us SGA teams see all of the time but she understands it now."

Natalie rubbed her temped, "I'm pissed at her John, I don't get angry all that often and I pride myself at being able to keep calm but this, this thing with me and Becky really hurt. Her saying those things felt like a knife in my chest." she stated.

At that John nodded in understanding, "I get that Natalie, I really do. I've been in your situation before – you know how Rodney is." he said with a half smirk on his face. "Becky wants to apologize to you, face to face."

"I can't," Natalie said shaking her head. "Not today. If I talk to her now I'll end up fighting with her again and I would really rather not do that." she said to him. "I love Becky, she's family."

John looked at Natalie, "You will go and talk to Becky soon, right?" he asked looking at her intently and giving her a meaningful look.

Staring at him for a few moments Natalie nodded, "Yeah, in a few days. I promise." she told him honestly.

"Good," John said with a curt nod, for a few moments after that he didn't say anything just looked out of the window with Natalie. "You mean a lot to Becky you know, she loves you and would do anything for you if you asked her."

Natalie gave a small smile when he said that, "I know, I would do the same for her in a heartbeat. I would do anything for her."

"She knows that," John told her.

Taking a deep breath Natalie looked at John with an amused look on her face, "Well thanks for being my step in therapist." she said to him jokingly.

He shrugged at that, "I do what I can to help."

"You should ask Becky out John," Natalie said to him with a pointed look. "You two would make a good couple." she stated.

John looked at her wide eyed and sputtered for a few moments when she said that, "Wha...we're not, I mean, me and Becky, we're just friends Natalie. I mean she's fun to talk to and-"

Before he could finish embarrassing himself by stuttering Natalie cut him off, "I'm not an idiot John I can see how you two look and act around each other, plus Becky went to YOU for comfort," Natalie told him. "If she didn't like you in the romantic sense then she would have gone to Teyla to talk and had Teyla come and talk to me instead of you but she went to you John. Becky really likes you and she trusts you. If that isn't a massive hint that she has the hots for you then I don't know what is."

"Riiiiight," John said slowly as he made his way towards the door. "I'm gonna leave now, before you start to make any other crazy and weird assumptions about me and Becky being more then friends. Which, just to let you know, is never going to happen ." he said to her with an odd look on his face. "Talk to Becky soon, we don't need her going all emo on us." he said to her and then left as quickly as he could before Natalie could even respond to that comment.

~0~0~0~0 Gym: 7:00 PM ~0~0~0~0

It was after dinner and Natalie and Ronon were in the gym sparring, and have been doing so for the last half hour or so. Neither of them were willing to give in and admit defeat which knowing how stubborn both Natalie and Ronon could be was no surprise, they would fight until one was knocked down or until one of them were completely exhausted from fighting for so long.

"Sheppard told me about the fight you and Becky had," Ronon stated as Natalie used her fighting staff and landed another blow on his tattooed forearm.

"Jesus that man is worse then when my grandma and my aunts get together, he gossips like there is no tomorrow," Natalie said with a shake of her head but had to quickly duck and roll away from her spot when Ronon swung his staff at where she had been standing. "I think he was a girl in a past life." she said as she tried to kick Ronon in the groin but he grabbed her foot before it could make contact.

Ronon stared at her and then her foot and then back at her once again, "You weren't about to do what I think you were, were you?" he asked her rhetorically as he tugged hard on her foot making her loose her precarious balance and fell onto the ground.

Natalie winced painfully and rubbed the back of her head where it hit the mats, "Owie, geeze Ron on be carefully with me. I am your girlfriend after all." she said to him as she just stayed there laying on the mats, not even bothering making an effort to get up – the sparring session took a lot of energy out of her.

Ronon looked down at her with an amused expression on his face, "You tell me to be careful with you when you were right about to kick me in the groin?" he asked her with a raised brow.

"Technicalities," She said to him flippantly.

Just as Natalie was about to get back up form the mats Ronon dropped his fighting staff and straddled Natalie's waist and ran his hands through her messy curly blonde hair and stared into her intense dark brown eyes; in return Natalie looked back up into Ronon's green/brown eyes and pulled him down to her by his neck and kissed him passionately.

In response to the passionate kiss Ronon slowly ran one of his hands down Natalie's face, down past her shoulders and down her side until he sneaked it underneath her shirt and started to work his way further up towards a certain body part of Natalie's but before he even reached that part of her Natalie grabbed his hand and pulled it out from under her shirt.

"Don't even think about it Ronon," Natalie admonished him with a pointed look.

Ronon grinned at her, "I've already thought about it." he said to her with is gravelly voice that made Natalie melt, sometimes Natalie wondered if he tried and make his voice sound deeper then it was just to get a reaction out of her.

Natalie sighed heavily, "Ronon don't even think about getting all touchy feely with me," she warned him but he just grinned at her and ran his finger tips lightly over the skin that was above her pants. "No, bad Ronon."

"Why not?" Ronon asked her as he leaned down and kissed along her cleavage.

Taking a deep, brave breath Natalie explained it to him. "Because Ronon, as good and amazing as you feel we are not having sex in here again, last time we ended up getting caught by Rodney and Carter," she told him as if it should be obvious why they couldn't be doing anything in there. "And Carter will kill us if she finds out we had sex in here yet again."

Ronon gave her a big grin when she said that, "We've had sex in here more then just one time, Carter just knows about the one time she caught us is in here." he said to her.

"Be that as it may I am still not chancing getting caught in here again, the only person I want to see me naked is you Ronon." Natalie said to him and lightly poked his chest as she gave him a smouldering look.

"It better stay like that," Ronon growled at her sexily and leaned down once again and kissed behind her ear and slowly down her neck. "What do you say about me and you going to bed early tonight." he suggested as his hand slowly began to make its way under Natalie's shirt once again.

Natalie gave a laugh when he said that, "What are you sex addicted?" she asked him jokingly.

He smirked down at her, "No, just addicted to you." he told her seriously and leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "Are you complaining?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Never," Natalie said shaking her head. "Come on big guy, lets get out of here before some unsuspecting innocent minded people come in and see us going at it." she said as she pushed at Ronon who stood up and helped Natalie up and off of the ground.

So with that said and done Ronon grabbed Natalie's hand and all but raced the way to their room so that he could have his way with her without the possibility of being interrupted or getting caught doing it in the gym once again.

~_~ _~_~ A few days later ~_~_~ _~ _~ _~ _~

Becky was in the biology lab looking through the microscope at some indigenous plant life of the planet that Atlantis resided on and she was trying to study it and see if the plant had any effects that could be put to use in medicine or by itself to help illnesses on Earth and in the Pegasus galaxy. Becky was about to grab another slide of an Earth plant and compare it to the Pegasus galaxy plant when someone suddenly grabbed her arm making her jump in surprise.

"What the-" Becky said turning around to see who had scared her.

There standing besides her lab area was Natalie, who for the past few days has refused to talk to her. "Hey Becky," Natalie said with a half smile on her face. "Wanna go and get lunch or something?" she asked.

In response to that Becky just nodded at her dumbly, "Sure." she said and hastily stood up to follow Natalie, Becky wanted the chance to talk to Natalie about their fight and go back to how things were before the whole Altozia fiasco.

The two girls left the Bio Lab and headed down the hallway towards one of the transporters so that they could head towards the mess hall, neither the girls said a word to one and another as they made their way to the mess hall both unwilling to start the heart to heart that they definitely needed to have. Natalie for one wasn't sure how to start the conversation and Becky wasn't sure how to apologize to Natalie, she didn't want her to be angry at her for the rest of their lives.

Sitting down at an empty table that was in a somewhat secluded area of the mess hall both Natalie and Becky just stared at each other waiting for the other to start talking first.

"Okay, this is just ridiculous." Natalie said as she stared across the table at Becky. "Me and you not being able to talk to each other is just plain stupid, we've known each other since we were six years old – almost nineteen years." she stated as she ran her hands through her long hair. "I know you don't agree with I did that day Becky but I did what I had to do to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone else. I killed him for everything he did to me and for what he did to my friend James. If given a second chance I would do the exact same thing. I wouldn't change everything. If you can't accept me as I am, as the trained and skilled weapons specialist and fighter I am then I don't know what I can do to change your mind Becky."

Becky took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, "Nat I know saying those things to you were incredibly stupid of me and well insensitive. I regret saying them, I truly do." she said to her seriously. "I just still thought of you as the quiet girl I went to high school with that was only talkative around her group of friends, I didn't realize how much you've changed since you left Minnesota for college, then when you came back you were home for maybe two or three months before you were whisked off here." she said to her and looked up at Natalie.

"It was a once in a life time opportunity," Natalie said to her. "I had to go."

"I know, I get that but during the time you were still living in Minnesota I barely got to know the new and improved you who wasn't afraid of anything and could take care of herself and would defend her friends no matter the consequences. I mean in the last few months that I've been here I've gotten to know your new quirks and whatnot but I never realized exactly what you did and what you've had to do before. I knew that being here was dangerous and that the SGA teams have had to kill before to keep us and other people safe but I never truly realized that you did those things too. It's just a lot to take in." she explained.

Hearing that Natalie smiled at Becky softly, "I know it's a lot to take in. You should have seen me when they were trying to convince me to come and work for them here. I refused to believe them for a solid fifteen minutes. They finally got annoyed with me refusing to believe them that they shoved an ancient device into my hand and it lit up and opened into some sort of device." she said with a laugh, remembering how she acted when they were telling her all about the Stargate program and about her leaving for Atlantis.

Becky and Natalie just looked at each other for a while and ate some of their food, both taking in what each other had just said. Both talking over what happened and their reasons for acting the way that they did, hopefully now that they've talked a bit they can go back to the way that things were.

"So," Becky said looking at Natalie hesitantly. "Are we good now?" she asked hopefully. "You aren't angry at me anymore right?"

Natalie looked at Becky, "I wasn't angry at you." she told her.

When she said that Becky looked at her with a raised brow, "Nat, seriously." she said giving her a look. "I've known you too long to believe that."

Laughing Natalie gave a nod, "Yeah I spose," she said. "I was kind angry but more so hurt then anything else. What you said hurt me because it's my job to do these kind of things, to protect Atlantis and anyone we associate with that are our allies, I fight and I kill when need be. I don't like doing that, no one really does but I will do it when I have to." she told her. "I love you Becky, you're family to me but hearing you say some of those things to me was painful."

"I know," Becky said looking at Natalie regretfully. "I'm so, so, so sorry nat. I really am." she said to her.

"It's all in the past now okay," Natalie said to her. "We're back to how things were before and doing girls nights once again." she said with a grin on her face as she finished off the sandwich that she had grabbed to eat.

Becky gave a smile in return, "Speaking of that, when are we gonna do girls night again?" she asked curiously.

Just as Natalie was about to respond to that when her radio went off, "Vance this is Carter come in."

Taking a deep breath Natalie tapped the side of her ear comm, "Vance here Carter, what can I do for you?" she asked, though Natalie already knew what it was that Carter wanted from her – Natalie wasn't supposed to kill Altozia and Carter was probably more then just pissed at her.

"I need you to come to my office as soon as you can," Carter said to her. "I want to talk to you about a few things." she told her.

Natalie gave a small sigh, "I'll head your way now. Vance out." she said and tapped her ear comm.

Becky looked up at Natalie, "Gotta go?" she asked.

"Yeah," Natalie said as she stood up. "Carter wants to talk to me about what happened with Altozia. I'm gonna get in deep shit for what I did." she said to her.

"Well have fun with that I guess." Becky said with a shrug, not sure what she should say for the situation.

At that Natalie gave a dry laugh, "I'll try. Talk at you later." she said giving a way and then grabbed her tray to throw away the stuff she didn't eat so that she could then go and face the music so to say.

Hopefully Carter didn't kill her or fire her.

!0!0!0!0

A/N: hope you like it. smooches loves


	42. Simply Becuase

Disclaimer; Not mine as usual.

A/N: I know i was gonna get this up sooner but i had things come up, it was my birthday on Friday the 29th, I'm getting old 22. Anywho enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Forty-two

Hello Natalie," Carter said with a half smile on her face when Natalie knocked on her office door. "Sit down, please." she said and gestured to a chair that was in front of her desk.

Taking a deep breath Natalie walked into Carter's office and did as she said and took a seat in front of her desk; Natalie hated one on one meetings like this, she always felt like she was in trouble or was going to be fired. Though this time there was a chance that might happen, she did go against Carter's orders after all and killed Altozia.

"You do know why I asked you here don't you?" Carter asked looking at Natalie intently.

Natalie nodded at her when she said that, "Yeah, I know exactly why I'm here." she stated.

Carter sighed and looked at Natalie, "You put me in quite a position with the IOA and with Stargate Command you realize." she said to her as she ran her hands through her hair. "The IOA wanted me to send you back to Earth immediately for an evaluation, they thought that you were a danger to the Atlantis Expedition and everything that we stand for."

"Well I'm guessing that you were able to convince them otherwise seeing as I'm not on my way back to Earth or anything like that." Natalie said as she crossed her arms and looked at Carter.

In response to that Carter nodded, "Yes, after a lot of arguing and defending you and having a good word be put in on your behalf by John and General O'Neill the IOA decided that you could stay here." she said to her. "If it wasn't for the fact that John and O'Neill put their word in I don't think that things would have turned out so nicely." she said to her.

When Carter said that Natalie looked at her in surprise, "O'Neill put a good word in for me? I've never even met the man before, why the hell would he be putting a good word in for me?" she asked.

Carter gave a sheepish smile when she said that, "I may or may not have told him about you and many of the good things you have done and people you have saved when you've gone off world on missions. Not to mention some select officials from Earth who have visited here and have seen and talked with you have told them about all of the good things you have done since you came to Atlantis." she told her. "You are a great fighter; your strong, determined and refuse to leave anyone behind. Not to mention you are the best weapon specialist that we have here in Atlantis or at least the best that is from Earth. Losing you would definitely be a blow to this expedition, some of the missions you've been on people wouldn't have lived to see another day if it wasn't for you."

"I did what I had to do," Natalie said to her with a shrug. "When I'm told to do something I finish it through to the end, no matter what the consequences are."

Carter g ave her a gentle smile when she said that, "And because of that I don't want to lose you, you are important to this expedition. And quite frankly I don't want to deal with homicidal Ronon, he would go on a killing spree if you were sent back to Earth." she told her with an amused smile.

"And we both know that Ronon could beat anyone that got in his way of getting to me," Natalie said with a laugh.

"Yes," Carter said with agreement. "And I would much rather avoid doing that paperwork."

Shaking her head at that Natalie looked at Carter curiously, "So what exactly did you have to say to the IOA to let me stay here?" she asked curiously, Natalie knew for a fact that the IOA were hard people to deal and reason with.

Carter gave an evil smirk when she said that, "I just reminded them of the one time that you saved one of their own when they came here for a visit a year or so ago, I also told them that Altozia was the man that had tortured you for under a week and had basically killed your friend and teammate right in front of you. So after doing that they grudgingly decided to overlook this incident."

"Well don't I feel special." Natalie said with sarcasm.

At that Carter shook her head, "Well that is all you and I really have to talk about and I do need to get back to doing some more paper work." she said to Natalie.

Natalie stood up, "Say no more, see ya later." she said with a wave and left Carter's office.

Once Natalie was done talking with Carter she decided to go and hunt out her very tall and very muscled Satedan boyfriend; she wanted to celebrate her not getting into much trouble with Carter and not being sent back to earth because of what she did. What better way to celebrate then dragging your boyfriend off to your room and ripping his clothes off and having your way with them, at least that's what Natalie thought, other people may celebrate different ways but personally Natalie was quite fond of her idea.

~!~!~!~! ~!~!~!~ ~!~!~!~

"Ronon, Ronon, Ronon where could you have gotten off to," Natalie said to herself as she was walking down the hallways of Atlantis looking for her elusive boyfriend.

Already Natalie has looked in the gym, the mess hall and in the weapons bay but so far there has been no sign of the Satedan male, everyone that Natalie talked to had seen Ronon that day but not in the last few hours. Natalie was starting to get annoyed and really frustrated, all she really wanted to do was grab Ronon and pull him into their room so that she could have her naughty way with him.

Just as Natalie was about to round a corner to head towards a balcony that she knew Ronon went to a lot when he wanted some alone time, a pair of hands grabbed her around the waist making her jump and screech in surprise.

"Heard you were looking for me," Ronon stated to her in his gravelly voice and leaned down to kiss the nape of her neck. "Thought you said you were gonna talk with Becky."

Natalie turned around in Ronon's arms and looked up at him, "We did, everything is back to normal. Me and Becky are best friends once again." she said with a smirk. "But that's not why I was looking for you." she said to him with a waggle of her eye brows.

When she said that Ronon looked at her with a wolfish smile, "And what were you looking for me for?" he asked as he leaned down towards her and gently placed a kiss just behind her ear, and sucked on the skin that was there.

"Ronon!" Natalie admonished him and pushed away from him a bit. "We're in the middle of a hallway." she said trying to pretend and be angry at him for trying to make out with her there but she really couldn't, he was too sexy to stay mad at for very long.

"Hmm, what?" Ronon asked as he leaned back a bit and looked down at her. "You want me to stop?" he asked with a raised brow. "That'd be a first."

Natalie rolled her eyes at that, "Come on big guy, lets take this to our room and celebrate." she said to him with a knowing smile on her face as she grabbed him by his hand and continued to pull him down the hallway to the closest transporter.

Following Natalie's lead Ronon looked down at her curiously, "What exactly are we celebrating?"

"I had a meeting with Carter today about what happened with me and Altozia, I thought she was going to fire me or send me back to Earth but some people put in a good word for me back on Earth so I get to stay," Natalie said to him with a half smile. "So because of that accomplishment you and I are going to celebrate things in the bedroom – preferably with all of our clothes off." she hinted at him.

Ronon grinned at her and picked Natalie up by her legs, in response to that Natalie wrapped her arms and legs around Ronon so that she didn't fall down. Walking into the transport Ronon pressed Natalie up against the wall and kissed her passionately, one of his hands immediately going into her hair and the other rubbing Natalie's upper thigh suggestively.

"Ahh, Ronon," Natalie moaned when Ronon started to trail kisses down from her lips to her neck. "Ro..Ronon. As much as I enjoy this we can't go at it in the transporter, someone will see us. We need to get to our room." she said not completely understanding why she is trying to persuade Ronon to stop his ministrations.

Hearing that Ronon grunted in annoyance but obeyed Natalie and let her back down onto the ground and then pressed for the level that his and Natalie's room was on, if it was up to him they would be going at it right then and there in the transporter but Natalie was right with saying that someone would catch them and more then likely end up telling Carter. They did not need to get a lecture on having sex in indecent places again.

Once Natalie and Ronon arrived on the level their room was on Ronon pulled Natalie off of the transporter and dragged her into their room, immediately he pushed her up against the door of their room and passionately kissed her with all his might. His hands that were cupping Natalie's face immediately went into her hair, holding her face to his, strengthening the kiss and making it that much more passionately and heated.

"Bed," Natalie murmured to Ronon in between kisses, he barely gave her time to breath let alone talk.

"Mmm," Ronon mumbled and slowly kissed down Natalie's neck. "Too far away." he said as his hands snaked underneath Natalie's shirt.

Pushing hard on Ronon's chest Natalie urged him over to where the bed was, grabbed at the hem of his shirt and threw it off of him and then pushed him once again onto the bed and crawled right on top of him, straddling his waist and looked down at him with a big grin on her face.

"I do so love this position," Natalie said as she shook her head making her hair land on one side of her shoulders, leaning down Natalie started to give feather light kisses down from Ronon's neck until she reached his belly button and then worked her way back up once again.

It was slow torture to Ronon, very enjoyable torture, but it was torture nonetheless and one thing was for sure and that was that Ronon was not in the mood to be playing around right now. He wanted to rip Natalie's clothes off and show her exactly how happy he was that she was not being sent back to Earth, and so far Natalie was going entirely too slow for his liking.

Just as Ronon was about to take Natalie's shirt off there was a knock on their door, for a few moments both Natalie and Ronon ignored it hoping that whoever it was would give up and leave but soon enough the knocking started again and became insistent.

"I'll get rid of whoever it is," Natalie said as she jumped off of Ronon. "Stay there." she said giving him a pointed look and strode towards the door to get rid of whoever the hell it was that decided to interrupt her and Ronon – which really was not a smart thing to do.

"Answer the damn door guys!" A very familiar voice yelled through the said door.

Sighing in annoyance Natalie waved her hand over the sensor, when she saw three of her friends standing in front of her Natalie just gave them an unamused look and crossed her arms. "What? Is there something that you need right fucking now that you couldn't wait until later?" she asked them.

Emilia, Lorne and John looked at each other hesitantly, "WE heard about Carter and yours meeting." Lorne answered her.

"Yeah." Natalie said not really in the mood to do small talk.

"I'm so happy you don't have to go back to Earth," Emilia said with a grin.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah me too," Natalie said distractedly.

Seeing how her friend wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as she was expect Emilia looked at Natalie in concern, "Is something going on?" she asked.

"Yeah, there is actually. Me and Ronon were just about it get all nice and sweaty in our bedroom without clothes on." Natalie told her bluntly. "IS there anyway I can hurry you guys up and get back to Ronon or are you gonna stand out here and listen to us?" she asked impatiently.

Hearing that Emilia's eyes widened, "No, We're going. Come on guys lets leave." she said as she grabbed Lorne by the arm and dragged him off.

John stayed behind and smirked, "Don't wear him out too much, I still need him in working order for our missions." he said and then left.

The second that the door of the room shut Natalie was on Ronon once again, "Finally." she breathed as she started kissing down Ronon's neck once again.

"You are wearing too much," Ronon said with a grin and grabbed the bottom of Natalie's shirt and threw it off of her, before Natalie even had time to think Ronon was working on getting her bra off as well.

"Someone's impatient," Natalie said once Ronon managed to unhook her bra, throwing it away from her Natalie leaned down and playfully sucked on Ronon's ear.

When she did that Ronon groaned, "Like you aren't." he said to her in response and ran his hands up and down Natalie's very bare back. "You were the one who wanted to come here and celebrate." he told her.

"Mmm, that is true." Natalie responded distractedly as she worked on untying Ronon's pants and getting them off of him, she wanted to be able to see all of his delectable body.

Natalie was about to give Ronon's pants a good tug to loosen them and get them of of his body but before she was able to Ronon wrapped his arm around her upper body tightly and switched their positions so that Ronon was on top now and Natalie underneath him, pouting up at him Natalie stared up into his intense eyes.

Ronon grinned down at her and leaned down towards her and nuzzled her neck a bit and placed gentle kisses slowly down from her ear to her collar bone, "You take too long." he said to her and grabbed at her own pants and made quick work of unbuttoning them and shoving them down her legs.

"I like it when you take control," Natalie said with a sultry look and kicked her pants the rest of the way off of her body.

Reaching up Natalie wrapped her arms around Ronon's neck and kissed him with everything that she had, showing him how much she loved him, cherished him, worshiped him and just how much she really wanted him. As Ronon and Natalie were making out Natalie raised one of her legs and hooked her toes in the waist band of his pants and slid his pants down and off of his body – they truly were getting in the way.

Ronon grabbed Natalie by the waist and lifted her further up the bed so that her head rested on the pillows, before Natalie was able to try and grab Ronon by his dreadlocks to drag him up towards her face he kissed down her body starting at her collar bone, concentrating on her breasts for a while and then moved lower to her stomach and belly button and then ended right at the hem of her underwear.

"These are gonna have to go," Ronon said as he hooked his fingers in the sides of Natalie's underwear but didn't yet pull them down.

Groaning Natalie bucked her hips at Ronon, "Stop fucking torturing me Ronon, I'm not in the mood to go slow right now. We can do slow, torturous sex next time."

Needing no further encouragement Ronon literally ripped Natalie's underwear off of her, kneeled in front of her a but and lifted one of her legs up around his shoulder and wasted no time in thrusting into Natalie. The second Ronon entered her Natalie gave a gasp at the feeling of Ronon being inside her, pausing for a moment so that Natalie could get used to the invasion of him being in her Ronon lifted Natalie's other leg to wrap around his waist. Not moments after he did that did Natalie pull back a bit and thrust her hips at Ronon, hinting at him to get a move on.

~!~!~!~! ~!~!~!~ ~!~!~!~

"I love you Ronon." Natalie said from her very naked position on Ronon's back, she was half laying on him and half off of him. "I truly do." she told him.

"You are my life Natalie, I love you more then you could imagine," Ronon said as he rested his head on one of his folded arms and cocked his head in such a way so he could see Natalie a bit from her position on his back.

Natalie kissed the back of Ronon's neck, "I'm so happy that I'm not being sent back to earth." she said to him.

"If you were sent back you know I would go there and bring you back, nothing will keep me from you." Ronon said determinedly.

"You know I would pay good money to watch you fight your way through Stargate Command to get to me," Natalie said with an amused look on her face.

Ronon shrugged and shifted around so that he was laying on his back, once he did that Natalie settled herself back into his side and laid her head on his chest and gave a big yawn once she got comfortable.

Smiling down at her Ronon ran his fingers through her hair, "Lets sleep we used up a lot of energy in the last hour." he said to her.

"And enjoyed every minute of it." Natalie said with a smirk and closed her eyes listening to Ronon's breathing and the beats of his heart.

Closing his eyes Ronon enjoyed the feeling of having Natalie pressed up close to him and soon fell asleep.

A/N: Hope you all liked this, i know it took me forever to get it out but i had a few issues as to how to do the second part of this chapter


	43. Her First Experience

Disclaimer: as usual not mine, no matter how much i wish it was

A/N: so I'm totally sorry for taking forever to get this out, i was having a massive writers block and shit like that and then i kinda ended up going to a few movies with my friends and my mother.

A/N2: WARNING: this is a filler chapter and kind of boring but i needed it to get my story to the place i want it at so i hope you like it.

Chapter forty- three

It's been about a week in a half since Natalie and Becky had their big talk and made up from their fight, when the two of them made up all of their friends gave a sigh of relief. No one really liked to have a cranky Becky and Natalie on their hands – one or the other cranky at one time they can handle but having them both pissed off is never a really fun experience.

At the moment Becky, Natalie, Teyla and Emilia were watching the guys sparring session, the guys being Ronon, John and Lorne – Rodney was going to come but he ended up chickening out and going to go and see Keller instead.

"So can someone explain to me the point of us coming here to watch the guys spar?" Becky asked as she watched Ronon take John down for the third time in the row at least.

When Becky said that both Natalie and Emilia stared at her as if she was an idiot, "Are you telling me you aren't enjoying watching the guys show off their skills and muscle that is always covered up by oh so many layers of clothing?" Emilia asked with a raised brow. "I mean come on, who doesn't appreciate a sweaty man working out in the gym. It's hot as hell." she said with a playful smirk on her face.

"Yup, definitely hot." Natalie said distractedly as she cocked her head to the side and watched Ronon's very toned body moving around the mats as he was sparring, it was a turn on seeing him work out so much and not even break a sweat – though him being so naturally gorgeous didn't help much in that department.

Becky rolled her eyes at her two drooling friends, "Yes well for those of us who are not dating someone it's kinda boring." she said to them. "Right Teyla?" she asked as she looked over at her Athosian friend.

At that Teyla gave a sheepish smile, "I must agree with Natalie and Teyla my friend, I do appreciate seeing men working out as such." she told her honestly.

Hearing that Becky groaned, "Dear god, what is wrong with you people?" she asked rhetorically.

"Hey, I enjoy my obsession with my boyfriend thank you very much." Emilia said in defense of herself.

Natalie shook her head at that and tore herself away from staring at Ronon to look at Becky, "If you got yourself a boyfriend I bet you wouldn't be acting this way." she told her in a sing song tone of voice. "From what I hear, Sheppard is single and he has a thing for dark haired girls." she told her with a waggle of her eye brows and then mock gasped. "Becky!That fits you perfectly. Imagine that."

Sighing heavily Becky rolled her eyes at Natalie, "Subtlety is not one of your talents." she told her blandly.

Natalie smirked at her, "I wasn't trying to be subtle, but when I am I will be sure to let you know."

"Gee thanks Nat," Becky said to her dryly. "Well as fun as this was I'm gonna leave you three here and go and do some actual work down in the science lab." she told them as she pushed herself off of the wall to head towards the doorway of the gym.

Teyla shook her head at Becky, "You need a break my friend, you have been working nonstop for a very long few weeks. It will not hurt you to miss a few hours of work to hang out with some friends, will it?" she asked her.

"No, but I have some research to do that-"

"Becky you're not working today and that's final." Natalie said to her with her arms crossed over her chest.

At that Becky looked at Natalie, "What? Carter will kill me if I don't work." she said looking at her as if she was insane.

Hearing that Natalie gave Becky a shit eating grin, "I've cleared everything with her, you're my bitch for the day." she said with a smirk. "You and me are going off world." she told her.

"What?" Becky exclaimed loudly making the guys pause for a moment and looked at the four girls, but they quickly returned to their sparring. "Off world? I've never been off world before. I'm a science person Natalie not a warrior/soldier person like you are." she said to her.

"Certainly you have been off world before Becky," Teyla said looking at the dark haired scientist.

Becky shook her head, "Nope, never." she said to them as she looked towards the guys and watched John moving around on the mats – she would never admit this out loud but the man was sexy, if Natalie heard her admit that out loud she would never heard the end of it.

When Emilia heard that she turned her attention away from her boyfriend, "Becky you've been off world before." she told her.

"When? I don't remember Carter asking me to go off world ever." Becky said to her.

At that Natalie laughed, "Becky, Pegasus is in a different galaxy, so technically when you came to work here you went off world. Sure you never went through the Stargate to go off world but you did get on a spaceship so to say to travel to a completely different galaxy and planet."

Becky sputtered for a few moments before she spoke up, "Well that's besides the point." she said to her lamely.

Natalie smiled at her friend, "Well you're still going off world today with me so ha." she said to her with a playful look. "Carter thinks it will be good for you since you are eventually going to have to go off world for your job, plus where we going is completely safe. I've been there before and I'm friends with the people of the village." she stated.

"The Yagasi?" Emilia asked as she turned to look at Natalie.

At that Natalie nodded, "Yup, I promised a certain little girl that I would come back and visit, and I am not one to break my promises." she told her.

Listening to the conversation between Emilia and Natalie, Becky looked at the two in confusion, "Who are the Yagasi?" she asked.

"A people from a planet that me, Emilia, Lorne and Gibby saved from a very dangerous illness," Natalie answered making Becky nod in understanding.

Teyla looked at Natalie with a raised brow, "Gibby?" she asked.

Natalie grinned, "It's Gibson's nickname." she replied with a shrug. "He won't let me call him by his first name so it's Gibby for him."

"So I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that I don't really have any say if I go or not," Becky said with a heavy sigh.

"I do not believe so Becky," Teyla said to her, trying to hide her amused smile. "It would be wise to go with Natalie rather then waiting for Carter to have you go with one of the SGA teams where there could be danger lurking, Natalie is going on a relatively safe planet."

Crossing her arms Becky gave Natalie a look, "Fine, I'll go seeing as I'm basically being forced to go." she said to her unhappily.

In response to that Natalie just grinned, "Go to Carter then, she's gonna brief you on the planet and then help you get suited up for going off world." she told her. "I'll meet you in the Gate Room in fifteen."

"Yay...I can't wait." Becky said to her dryly and then left the gym to go and find Carter.

Once Becky was out of earshot Natalie shook her head at her friend's hesitance to go off world, she didn't blame her really going off world on a completely different planet and galaxy is a lot to take in but doing this is supposed to be apart of Becky's job so she might as well get it over with. Besides the Yagasi people's planet was relatively safe compared to other planets that there are in the Pegasus galaxy, it's mostly unknown to the wraith and they are a mostly medieval society so there's not many things to worry about happening to them.

"Well then," Natalie said pushing herself off of the gym wall. "I'm gonna go steal my boyfriend's sexy ass for a few moments and then head on out to Yagasi with miss scardey pants." she said with a shake of her head.

Emilia smirked, "Yeah have fun with that." she said to her. "She reallly didn't seem to want to go." she said trying to hide her amusement.

"I am sure once she has gone through the gate that she will be more then willing to go off world again," Teyla said to her. "Enjoy your time with the Yagasi." she told her.

Natalie just nodded at her and walked over to where the guys were standing around and taking a break from sparring with one and another for a few moments, wrapping her arm around Ronon's very muscled forearm Natalie tugged him away from the guys.

Just as Natalie was about to open her mouth to say something Ronon swooped down and pulled Natalie's face to his and kissed her passionately; both of them have been busy with missions over the last few days that neither have been able to spend much time with one and another unless of course you count a meal here or there if that even.

"Go get a room why don't ya!" John joked to the two of them.

Ronon pulled away from Natalie and looked at John over her head with a grin, "I think we'll go and do that. Thanks for the suggestion." he said as he grabbed Natalie around the waist and practically threw her over his shoulder and made his way out of the gym.

Turning down an empty hallway Ronon put Natalie down and pushed her up against the wall and kissed her hard and passionately, his hands going immediately to her waist and lifted her up a bit so that she could wrap her legs around Ronon's waist.

"I've been wanting this, so bad." Ronon said between kisses.

Letting out a quiet moan Natalie wrapped her hands around one of Ronon's dreadlocks as he kissed down her neck, "What...having me pushed up against the wall?" she asked breathlessly.

He grinned against her skin, "No, though I do enjoy that. I've missed being able to be around you, feeling your skin." he said as he softly kissed Natalie on the lips.

"Me..too but you gotta stop Ronon," Natalie said pulling herself away from Ronon. "As much as I would love to go and do the nasty with you right now I don't have time." she told him with a sad expression. "I'm heading to Yagasi with Becky, her first time off world. I just wanted ot let you know that I was going to be gone." she told him.

Hearing that Ronon let Natalie stand on her own and sighed heavily, "We ever gonna get time to spend together, just one damn day." he stated. "This is the first day that either of us have been on base together for more then a few hours at a time."

At that Natalie looked up at Ronon sympathetically and caressed the side of his face, "I know, I promise when I get back that I am all yours tonight to do with as you wish." she told him in a sultry tone.

"I'm holding you to that woman, so you better be prepared for a long night ahead of you." he told her with a smirk on his face.

"Wouldn't expect anything less." she told him as she pulled him down to her level and gave him a small kiss. "I'll be back soon."

"Be safe." Ronon told her sternly. "Love you." he told her, Ronon always told Natalie that he loved her when either them went on missions and before they went to bed, he wanted her to know that she was always loved no matter what.

Natalie smiled at him, "Love you too Ronon, but I really got to go." she told him sadly.

"Go," he said to her with a nod.

Giving Ronon one last kiss Natalie jumped away from him and hurriedly made her way to the Gate Room where she told Becky that she would meet up with her so that they could go off world to visit the people of Yagasi.

-0-0-0-00 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0-0-0-

"See going off world isn't so bad," Natalie said to Becky

Becky gave Natalie a look, "We literally just stepped on the planet Natalie, haven't even been here for two minutes. So there hasn't been time for anything bad it happen."

Natalie rolled her yes, "Technicalities." she said waving her off.

"You're so weird." Becky said shaking her head.

"Yet you love me still for some odd reason." Natalie said to her with a smile.

At that Becky rolled her eyes, "Yeah who knows why," she said to her and looked around the planet that they were on, all Becky could see was plains and forests as far as the eye can see. "So where is this village you were telling me about, I don't see any signs of human life or of a village really."

Gesturing towards where a group of trees were Natalie smirked, "There's a pathway though those tree's that lead to the Yagasi village." she told her as she started to head in said direction. "Should take us maybe five to ten minutes to get to the village."

"Okay," Becky said as she started to follow behind Natalie hesitantly, she still wasn't so sure about her being off world, she would have rather stayed on Atlantis in her science lab rather then going on some random planet with Natalie. "Are they gonna be okay with me coming with you?" she asked.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah why wouldn't they?" she asked as they started along the path that lead to the village.

Becky shrugged at that, "I don't know." she said honestly.

Hearing that Natalie smiled, "Don't worry they'll be fine with you coming with." she told her as she ducked under some low tree branches that were in her way.

"So why exactly are we making this visit anyways?" Becky asked as she followed right behind Natalie and nearly tripped on a root that was sticking out under some foliage that she failed to see.

Smiling back at her friend Natalie answered, "Well for one Carter wants to do some trading with the Yagasi and seeing as I'm on good terms with them she sent me to go and deal with procuring some of the items, but mostly, I just wanted to come and see them and hang out."

In response to that Becky just shook her head and followed behind Natalie, "Go figure." she stated.

After about five minutes of walking on the pathway through the forest ducking under tree branches and around massive bushes Natalie and Becky were finally getting closer to where the Yagasi village was located at. Natalie was excited, it's been a few months since she has been able to get away from Atlantis to come here for a visit.

It only took a few moments since Natalie and Becky arrived for a very familiar figure to start walking towards the two, the second Natalie saw who it was she grinned. "Letha!" she said and walked over to her Yagasi friend. "How are you, how is everything going?" she asked.

"Everything is well, our people have had a very peaceful last few months, our crops are doing more then well." Letha told her.

"Anyone been getting sick again?" Natalie asked curiously.

At that Letha shook her head, "No my friend, all traces of the sickness is gone from our home thanks to you and your people." she told her in a thankful tone.

Letha looked around Natalie and saw Becky and stared at her curiously, "I am Letha, leader of this Village. Who, may I ask, are you?"

"I'm Becky, I am Natalie's friend and work with her." Becky answered nervously.

"Any friend of Natalie's is a friend of ours," Letha told her and clasped her hand for a moment and then let go and turned to Natalie. "Sennik has been wondering about you, she has started to believe that you will not ever come back here again." she told her.

Natalie smiled serenely at that, "Work takes up most of my time sadly, my Ronon has been suffering because of that." she told her.

"No kidding, he's always grumpy because he hasn't been able to have you to himself for a while." Becky said with a roll of her eyes.

Letha looked between the two friends with a smile, "Go and see Sennik and her mother, I shall go and gather up supplies for you to take back to Atlantis." she said and then disappeared before Natalie was able to say anything to her.

Shaking her head at Letha, Natalie turned to Becky and smiled. "Come on, lets go introduce you to some more of the locals." she said and grabbed Becky's hand and pulled her further down the path and led the way into the nice sized village.

Navigating her way through the village Natalie made her way to where she knew Sennik's house was, but as she was making her way there with Becky in tow some of the villagers stopped her and thanked her once again for what saving them from the sickness a few months back. After about ten minutes of this happening again and again Natalie and Becky finally made it to Sennik's house, smiling excitedly Natalie knocked on the front door of the hut/house.

"Natalie!" Lemra, Sennik's mother said in surprise when she saw Natalie and Becky standing there at her front door. "It has been too long since we have last met, please, do come in." she stated.

"Thank you," Natalie said with a nod and headed inside. "This is my friend Becky." she said and gestured to her.

Lemra smiled at Becky and nodded, "Hello, are you a fellow warrior?" she asked curiously.

At that Becky shook her head vehemently, "No, not even close. I am a scientist." she told her with a half shrug.

"Well then," Lemra said. "Do you want me to get Sennik, I am sure she would be more then happy to see you." she told Natalie.

Natalie grinned, "Sure that would be great." she told her.

"SENNIK!" Lemra yelled for her daughter. "Come here, there are people here to see you."

Not even a minute passed when the young girl Sennik ran out of her room and into the living room, she stopped and looked at Natalie in shock for a few moments not believing that she was really there but once she regained herself she sprinted over to Natalie and threw herself at her.

"I'm guessing that you missed me," Natalie said jokingly.

"Yes," Sennik said nodding her head into Natalie's shoulder. "I have missed you very much Natalie. Are you here to visit me?" she asked.

Natalie smiled down at her, "Well to visit and do some trading." she told her. "I brought my friend Becky with."

Sennik let go of Natalie and stared up at Becky for a moment, "Hello," she said shyly. "Are you going to play with me and Natalie today?" she asked looking between the two hopefully.

"I would love to," Becky said to her sweetly. "What do you say Natalie?" she asked her.

In response to that Natalie grinned, "Definitely, lets go have some fun Sennik." she said and grabbed Sennik up by the waist and then turned toward Lemra. "Is it okay if I steal your daughter for a while?" she asked.

Lemra nodded, "Yes, please take her and run some of her energy off. Be sure that she is back by dinner." she told her.

"Will do," Natalie said and then ran out the door, Sennik in her arms and Becky following behind them.

This is what Natalie missed about being a kid, being able to forget about everything and everything and just have some fun running around and fooling around. It's not something that she gets to do very often in Atlantis.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Atlantis ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Welcome back Becky and Natalie," Carter said to the two of the friends when they stepped through the Stargate. "I hope the trip was productive." she stated.

Natalie nodded and handed the bags of what Letha gave her off to two soldiers, "Yup more then productive. They've been having good crops apparently." she said to her with a smile.

"That's good," Carter said and looked over at Becky. "So are you going to be okay with going off world for work if the need be?" she asked curiously.

Becky nodded, "Yeah I think I can manage it." she stated.

Natalie looked at Carter hopefully, "Well since we're done with that is it cool if we leave? Unless you need to talk to us about something or another?" she questioned iwht a raised brow.

In response to that Carter just shook her head, "No you two go on. I'll see you both later I am sure." she said to them with a wave.

Not wasting any time both girls hurriedly left the Gate Room, Becky going down to the mess hall to go and get some real food, she wasn't the vegetarian type like the Yagasi people were. And Natalie, Natalie decided to go and hunt down Ronon, after all she did promise him that he could have his way with her once she got back from Yagasi.

"See you came back finally," Ronon said startling Natalie who had been wandering around the hallways looking for him.

Natalie grinned up at him, "I did make a promise to a certain someone, and I would hate to break that promise. It sounded too fun to pass up on." she told him with a waggle of her eye brows.

Ronon settled his hands on her hips and backed her up into the wall that was behind Natalie, he leaned down and kissed the skin just behind her ears. "I would use the word erotic rather then fun to describe what you and I are going to be doing." he whispered heavily into her ear.

Natalie grabbed a hold of one of his dreadlocks and pulled his face away from her neck and kissed him hard on the mouth, "What are you waiting for then?" she asked him with a playful smirk on her face and disentangled herself from Ronon and started to make her way down the hallway, more then likely intending on heading to their room.

Ronon shook his head and followed right behind Natalie, Ronon loved Natalie more then anyone he has ever loved before, more then he even loved Melena. If Natalie asked Ronon to do something for her, he would jump at the chance to do it if it meant that she was happy. She was his world, he didn't even want to imagine what his life would be like if she wasn't in it – it wouldn't even be a life worth living. He would do everything in his power to make sure that Natalie lived, he wouldn't let what happened to Melena happen to Natalie – he refused to loose another woman he loved. He would protect her at all costs.

A/N: hope you liked it

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Okay I'm done asking. Please review


	44. Live Every Second

Disclaimer: as usual the characters are not mine as much as i wish they were.

A/N: I'm sooooooooooo sorry for not updating in like am onth or however long that it has been. I've been so busy, i quit my job at Shopko which is a retail store and i got a new job working with the disabled and i picked up a whole bunch of hours from my co-worker who is on leave at the moment. And i just havent been inspired lately. I'm so sorry i hope this more then makes up for me not updating in nearly forever.

Chapter forty-four

A month went by since Natalie and Becky went to visit the Yagasi people; since then Becky hasn't really gone off world all that much, she much preferred to stay in her lab where there wasn't all that much threat of being in danger like there was whenever she would go off world on missions. The danger of going off world was the one thing that made Becky really not want to go but the second was that she had to walk through the weird watery substance to go on said missions and that stuff kind of weirded her out – reminded her too much of some horror/science fiction movies that she has seen.

"You all did not need to come here to visit with me, I am fine." Teyla said from her position on her bed in the infirmary; Emilia, Becky and Natalie were there with her, seeing how she was doing. "I will be back on active duty within a week or so. My injury was minor."

When she said that Emilia looked at Teyla as if she was insane, "Minor? Teyla, you were thrown into a rock wall and your side got slashed pretty badly. From what Keller said it tore up your muscle pretty badly." she said giving Teyla a look.

Teyla smiled at her, "I have been through much worse, believe me. I will survive and be back to going on missions very soon." she said to her.

"Teyla just let us happily worry about you," Natalie said to her with an amused smile. "It would make Emilia much more happier if you just accepted her worry filled tendencies."

Hearing that Teyla looked at Emilia with a warm smile, "I very much appreciate you worrying for me Emilia, thank you." she told her and looked at Natalie, Becky and Emilia. "You all do not need to stay here if you have other things that you need to be getting to. I will not be offended."

"Are you trying to get rid of us Teyla?" Becky asked with a half smile on her face. "Because really, that's not a very nice thing to do to your friends." she said with a raised brow, which didn't really make her look intimidating which was the look that she was trying to go for.

"No Becky, I am not trying to get rid of any of you." Teyla said with a shake of her head. "But I am sure that there are much more interesting things to do with your time then hang around here in the infirmary with me."

When she said that Natalie rolled her eyes at her, "Oh come on Teyla, how fun is it to sit in bed all day for days on end without anything to do and almost no one to talk to, when I was in here you and everyone came and visited me at least a few times a day and stayed for at least an hour. So what exactly makes you think that me and the girls are going to do the same thing for you?" she asked her with a raised brow. "Think of this as an impromptu girls day." she said with a shrug.

Emilia and Teyla nodded their heads in agreement; Emilia looked between the girls with excitement. "We've been in need of a girls night/day, whatever. It's been way too long since we've all had time to do so. We can talk about any guys of interest that you might have," she said looking at Teyla with a waggle of her eyebrows. "Make fun of Becky for her lack of confidence of asking John out, and hell we can annoy you with all of the things us earthings miss from back home."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Natalie whined. "I miss the internet, and chocolate, oh and Starbucks coffee." she complained with a pout on her face and looked at her friends seriously. "Think I could convince Stargate Command to hire some Barista's to make us our daily Starbucks drinks?"

Becky snorted in amusement in response to that comment, "I seriously doubt that they are gonna go for that, let alone pay them and put them through the clearance to be able to work here. I think you are going to have to deal with the regular coffee that we get here."

At that Natalie grimaced, "I don't like regular coffee, I like my frappuccino's." she said. "Oh well, I'll stick with drinking tea until I can think up of a good argument for Stargate Command to bring some Starbucks workers here to the Pegasus Galaxy."

Teyla looked between her three friends in confusion, "I do not know what you are talking about." she said.

"It's just a coffee based drink that people get," Emilia explained to her with a wave of her hand, soon after that she turned to look at Teyla with a smirk. "So Teyla, tell us of any guys that have caught your eye lately? Anyone from here on Atlantis or back on New Athos maybe?" she asked curiously.

Blushing Teyla shook her head, "There is no one as of yet." she told them.

"No one?" Becky asked skeptically. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"I think you're blushing Teyla." Emilia said with a grin on her face.

Teyla gave them a look, "I am sure that there is no one." she said not sounding nearly as confident as she meant to.

"What about Kanaan?" Natalie said speaking up and looking at Teyla with an innocent smile that didn't really look all that innocent.

Both Emilia and Becky looked between Natalie and Teyla curiously, "Whose Kanaan?" they asked.

Just as Natalie was about to open her mouth to respond her ear comm went off, "Vance this is Carter, please come to the conference room immediately. Carter to Vance, come to the conference room immediately." Carter's voice over the ear comm said.

Sighing heavily Natalie tapped the side of her ear comm to respond back, "This is Vance, what's going on Carter?" Natalie asked slightly disappointed that she wont be able to hang out with the girls today – at least from the tone of voice Carter had used it didn't seem to be likely.

"I need you to come to the conference room right now, I have a favor to ask you once you get here." Carter said to her.

"Okay," Natalie said heavily with disappointment. "I'll be there in a few I guess." she said and then turned to look at her friends with an apologetic smile. "Well I'm gonna have to take a rain check on the girls day thing, duty calls." she said with a half smile on her face.

Teyla nodded at her, "Alright, we will see you later then." she said to her.

Natalie smiled at her friends and gave them a small wave before quickly making her way out of the infirmary and heading towards the conference room to see what exactly it was that Carter wanted to see her for and what kind of favor she needed.

R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_ R_N_R_N_

Arriving at the conference room Natalie walked right inside and saw that along with Carter, there sitting at the table was John, McKay and Ronon t he later of whom was grinning at her knowingly – obviously he knew what was going on. Shaking her head at the antics of her boyfriend Natalie looked over at Carter with a curious expression on her face, but all Carter did was shake her head and gesture towards the table silently telling her to take a seat. Doing just that Natalie took a seat besides Ronon and stared at Carter with an expectant look, she wanted to know what Carter wanted from her and what everyone else in the room seemed to know except for her.

"So," Natalie said with a raised brow while looking directly at Carter. "What's going on exactly?" she asked.

Carter shook her head at Natalie's impatience, "As I told you over the radio, I need a favor from you. Teyla, as you know, is unable to go on any missions for at least a few days and I was wondering if you would be willing to take her place for the day and go off world with John, Rodney and Ronon." she said looking at her hopefully. "I know it's your day off, the first one that you've had in a few weeks but-"

Before Carter was able to finish her sentence Natalie cut in, "I'll go, I don't mind." she told her.

"Are you sure?" Carter asked. "If you had plans or wanted to enjoy your day off don't feel obligated to agree to go just because I'm asking you to." she stated.

At that Natalie grinned, "Really I'm fine with it Carter, it's not very often I get the chance to go on a mission with the infamous SGA team one, now is it." she said with a playful smirk.

"Now that we've got that settled can we just get on with it and leave?" Rodney whined.

For a few moments Carter just stared at him before she sighed and looked at the others in the room, "The planet that you are going to be visiting is R9P-927, there has been reports of people getting violently sick – high fevers, shaking, hallucinations, coughing up blood and many other symptoms, and then after a short period of time they just suddenly die. They have tried various treatments but so far nothing has worked or even alleviated any of the symptoms. We don't know what kind of disease that this might be, all we know is what the villagers told us – that the planet is infested with some kind of bug and that once that bug latches onto you that you will get the disease and die." she finished.

When Rodney heard that he started to get a bit jittery at the thought of having opt go on a planet infested with bugs let alone around people who had a incurable disease, "Carter, are you sure that you need me to go. I mean, I'm sure Ronon, Natalie and Sheppard can handle it by themselves. Don't you think?" he asked looking at her hopefully.

"Yes Rodney, I'm sure you need to go." Carter deadpanned.

"Well, great. I always love going to bug infested planets." John said sarcastically. "Lets just hope that they aren't giant humanoid ones this time."

Ronon looked over at John with a smirk, "I had fun on that mission." he said to him.

Hearing that John rolled his eyes, "Only you would big guy." he said.

"Anyways," Carter said breaking into the conversation. "I want you four to go to the village and see what's going on; find out if it really is some bug that is making these people sick or if it is just an explanation for a curable disease that they don't have the medicine for."

Natalie nodded, "So go in, talk with the people, give them medicine, find out whats making them sick then come home, right?" she asked.

McKay rolled his eyes, "Yes, if you want the simplified version then yes, that's how it's going to go." he said to her.

"Well McKay I like simplified, it's straight forward and gets to the point a lot faster then if you were going to explain it to us." Natalie told him with a pointed look. "I don't make people look stupid by using big fancy scientific words."

In response to that McKay huffed and crossed his arms, "You're just jealous that I have a higher IQ then you." he said with a superior smirk.

Natalie laughed when he said that, "Rodney, I have an I.Q. of 134, thank you very much. And I also have three bachelor degrees, it might not be as fancy as your doctorate but I think it's pretty good considering." she said to him and smirked when she saw his shocked look when she revealed what her I.Q. was.

Once Rodney regained his voice he opened his mouth to retort to that comment but John held up his hands to stop the argument, "Alright kids, don't make me separate you two." he said to them with a grin.

"When we leaving?" Ronon asked gruffly, looking at Carter.

"As soon as you all are geared up to go off world," She replied to him.

~_~_~_~_ ~_~_ ~_~_~ _~_~ Gate Room ~_~_~_ ~_~_ ~_~_ ~_~_ ~_ _~

"If you can manage it, please try and bring back some blood samples for Carson or Keller to look at – it would be nice if we could prevent this from happening again, not to mention trying to find a cure for these people." Carter said as she looked at Natalie, John, Ronon and McKay all of whom were ready to go off world to the infected planet.

Natalie gave Carter a playful salute, "Will do captain." she said as she swung a backpack up onto her shoulders. "We'll be back before you know it." she told her with a grin.

Carter looked at Natalie and shook her head at her antics, "Try not to do anything stupid." she told them, looking specifically at John.

"I wouldn't even think of it," John said looking at Carter innocently.

At that Carter gave John a pointed look, "I know you John, don't sacrifice yourself to find out what is going on with these people. I mean it." she said to him sternly.

He waved her comment off, "Yeah, Yeah I know. Be safe and don't endanger yourself or your team and try not to piss off the locals." John said to her with a half smirk on his face. "Stop worrying so much, we've been on missions that were far more dangerous then this one." he told her.

Before Carter was able to respond to that comment John, McKay, Ronon and Natalie had stepped through the Stargate to the planet that has been infested with a terrible disease. "He is going to be the death of me one of these days." Carter said shaking her head at herself and then turned around to go back to her office – to wait for some information on the planet that she just sent her people on.

Stepping through the Stargate it was obvious that something was wrong, for one there was an awful smell coming from just over a hill that was about fifty feet away from the Stargate.

"Dear god!" Rodney complained covering his nose. "What is that putrid smell?" he asked as he looked around for the source of the smell.

Ronon glanced down at McKay before answering, "Burnt flesh." he stated as he repositioned his gun so that if the need came he could shoot and kill someone who may try and attack them.

Hearing that answer Rodney grimaced, "Well, isn't that pleasant." he stated dryly.

"They used to do that during the medieval times when the plague was spreading, they used to burn the dead so that the plague wouldn't spread but sadly it didn't always work. Thus why thousands of people died all over Europe from it." Natalie said to them as she took in her surroundings – the planet was beautiful, it was very green and had rolling hills and massive trees that you would see in a rainforest back on Earth.

John turned to look at Natalie with a raised brow, "Aren't you full of random information," he said giving her a curious look.

Natalie shrugged, "History interests me, especially if it's pre-twentieth century." she explained.

"What the hell is the plague?" Ronon asked as he looked between the three earth people in confusion.

"It a really bad disease that killed millions of people in a few years time." Rodney told him.

Ronon looked down at him with a narrowed expression, "Told me so much." he said to him sarcastically.

At that Natalie walked up to him and patted him on the arm lightly, "I'll explain it to you later. The genius here probably doesn't know anything about it, his expertise is not in history." she said jokingly.

"Hey now," Rodney said turning around to look at her, tearing his attention away from his tablet computer. "I just get the point of history, let alone history that isn't even about someone's own country."

Before Natalie was able to open her mouth and retort John jumped into the conversation, not wanting to break up another bantering session between his two friends. "Anyways, Meredith, where exactly is this village at?"

Rodney huffed in annoyance when John used his first name, "Don't call me Meredith," he gritted out. "I hate that name."

"Rodney." John said giving him an expectant look.

Seeing his expression Rodney sighed heavily and looked down at the tablet in his hands and touched a few things on the screen before he answered John. "Supposedly it should be right over that hill over there." he said pointing to where the burnt flesh smell was coming from. "I vote we go around, I don't think any of us want to deal with that god awful smell." he stated.

"Is going around faster?" John asked him.

At that Rodney got quiet, "No not quite, it's about thirty or so minutes longer actually." he said to him.

"Well then, we're going to go with going over the hill, we don't need to waste anytime." John told him seriously.

Watching Rodney huff and stalk off towards the hill in annoyance made Natalie laugh, she leaned over towards Ronon and stage whispered to him, "You know sometimes I swear he acts more like a girl then I do." she said with a playful smile.

"I heard that!" Rodney said turning around with a glare.

John looked between Natalie and Rodney and sighed heavily, "Can you try to not tease him so much, you know how sensitive he is." he whispered to her and then jogged over to join Rodney who was stalking towards the hill.

Both Ronon and Natalie looked at each other before following John and Rodney's lead in heading towards the hill where the village was supposed top be on the other side of.

"Oh Ronon, Natalie please try and not make out on this mission okay." John yelled back ot them.

In response to that Ronon gave him a dark, narrowed look but nodded at him nonetheless to let him know that he understood.

"Well that just ruined my fun," Natalie said to him jokingly.

Ronon gave her a half smile, "Don't worry when we get back you can have all the fun you want." he told her huskily.

Licking her lips Natalie looked away from Ronon's heated gaze, "Can't wait big guy, can't wait." she told him and then turned her attention back to walking to the village, she needed ot be prepared in case there might be any sort of danger.

~ - ~ _ ` _ ~ - ~ _ ~ - ~ _ The Village ~_ _~ – ~_~ - ~ _

Reaching the village it was easy to see how bad things really were, there weren't people anywhere to see, it looked like the buildings were more like sick houses or houses for the dead from the smell of things. It was not a pretty sight to see whatsoever.

"Hello!" John yelled out hoping that someone would be brave enough to come out and greet them. "We heard about what was happening to you guys, we're here to help you." he stated and looked around.

After a few minutes of waiting for a response and John yelling and saying that they were not going to harm them and just wanted to help them there still was no response from anyone in the village.

"Don't think they like you much Sheppard." Ronon said as he looked around with a calculating eye.

John gave him an unamused look, "Maybe if you and G.I Jane put your guns away they wouldn't be so wary to come out from hiding." he told him with a pointed look at his and Natalie's massive guns.

"G.I. Jane?" Ronon questioned. "What's that?" he asked.

"A very pathetic joke is what it was," Natalie said as she lowered her gun and put it back in it's holster. "I'll explain it to you later." she stated.

Grudgingly Ronon put his gun away but still kept a defensive position up and stayed close to Natalie in case he had to protect her, though he made sure to do it subtlety so that she wouldn't realize what he was doing. If she figured out what he was doing Natalie would kick his ass and smile about it.

After about fifteen minutes of no movement in the town and quite a few of the places that they tried to go in ending up being locked John decided to give up, there's only so much he can do if the people aren't willing to come out and talk with him and his team.

"Alright seeing as these people don't seem to want our help or get a cure lets head out and tell Carter that it was a no go." John said as he started to make his way back out of the village towards the Stargate.

Rodney gave a sigh of relief, "Thank god, I really don't want to get sick from these people." he said.

Just as they all were about to make their way out of the village to leave and go back to Atlantis an elderly man came out of one of the more massive and older buildings – it looked big enough to hold all of the sick people.

"Who are you people?" He demanded, walking with a staff in hand, his old tired eyes filled with worry or fear. "Why have you come here, have you not heard that it is unsafe here. We are affected by a disease, many of my people have died already. You all could get infected as well. You should leave before it's too late." he all but yelled at them.

"We know about the disease," John stated to the man. "That's why we're here, we may be able to help you and find a way to cure some of your people. If you let us help you that is." he said looking him straight in the eye. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, this is Doctor Rodney McKay, Specialist's Ronon Dex and Natalie Vance."

The man shook his head in disappointment, "If you stay you will die, you already have endangered yourselves enough. You are cursing yourselves." he stated with a serious look as he looked at Ronon, Rodney and Natalie. "None that have come here to help have left alive." he said darkly.

"Just let us help and then maybe your people wont keep on dying." Ronon said in annoyance, he hated people who kept on arguing their point even when there are others who are trying to offer them help.

John gave Ronon a look when he said that, "What my friend here is trying to say is we would really like it if you would give us the chance to help your people, to try and save anyone else from dying from the sickness that quite a lot of you have. We have advanced medical supplies that will let us do tests and we have medicine to give you to help you to try and fight whatever this is off.

The man studied the four of them for a few moments before he nodded, "Alright you can try and attempt to help up but be warned, if you do end up getting bitten by the bug and receiving the disease we are not to be blamed. I have warned you." he stated.

"Maybe we should go back," Rodney whispered to John, he really was not too keen on possibly being bitten by some unknown bug that could possibly kill them.

Hearing that John raised his brow at Rodney, "What, are you a chicken?" he asked.

Rodney shook his head adamantly, "No, but I just do not believe in endangering my life more then I already do, and I also hate germs. I am more likely to get sick then the rest of you, I was quite the sickly child I'll have you know." he said to them.

"I'm not surprised." Ronon stated dryly.

The elder man looked at the four, "I am Ganus, the village leader. Come with me, all the sick are in this building here, the rest of the people of the town have been quarantined to their homes, only coming out when they need to get supplies." he stated and motioned for them to follow him.

A/N: Hope you all liked it, and as always i more then appreciate reviews, i seriously do. So please leave on, or leave ideas of what you want to happen next or anything like that really. love you alll.


	45. Deadly illness

Disclaimer: sadly not mine, never is. Sigh.

A/N:So this is the rewritten version of chapter 45 i hope you all like it and review becuase well it would be greatly appreciated if i knew that all you people like my story so far and from the story alerts ive seen i know you like them at least a little bit.

Chapter forty-five

Once inside the building that Ganus led them to Natalie looked around and shook her head sadly, there were so many sick men, women and children – it seemed no one was safe from this sickness. All around the makeshift hospital were beds filled with peolpe who were in all stages of the sickness, some could barely move and looked as if they weren't even breathing at times and others were still able to move around on their beds and walk around the building looking as if they just had a cold. But sadly that was not so, within the next few months if Natalie and her people didn't do something these men, women and children who weren't faring as badly soon would be unable to move because of the pain and sickness wreaking havoc on their bodies.

"There were more of us," Ganus said as he gestured around to all of the people. "But the sickness had run it's course in many of us, and those of us who have been lucky enough to not catch this sickness stay in their homes unless it is completely necessary to go outside." he explained to them.

John looked around, "How many people did your village have before all of this happened?" he asked.

Ganus' old face wrinkled even more in concentration, "We have never counted how many people we had but I believe that it was at least seven-hundred or more but now, I believe we have only four-hundred at the most."

Rodney looked at Ganus in shock, "You've lost over three hundred people, why didn't you contact us sooner?" he asked without thinking.

When Rodney said that Ronon hit him upside the head, "I think it would be smart if you just never talked again." he said to him with a heated glare.

"Well we were trying to contact some of the people that we trade with for help but none of them were willing, and we did not know of you people. We've heard stories but never truly believed them, we live a very solitary life. We do not use very many modern or advanced machines if we do not have to." Ganus explained to him with a tight expression on his face.

"Ignore Rodney, Ganus." John said as he gave his scientist a pointed look. "Sometimes he talks before he thinks. We really need to get a gag for him." he said with a shake of his head at his friends poor wording. "But Ganus believe me when I say that we are going to do everything in our power to try and find a cure for your people." he told him seriously.

Ganus gave them a thankful look, "Thank you, truly I thank you. Anything that you can do for my people is appreciated, even if it is as small as making them comfortable in their last moments in this life." he said and then turned to look at McKay. "Dr. McKay do you need a space to put your supplies?" questioned to the rude man.

Hearing that McKay looked at Ganus in confusion for a few moments before realization dawned on him and he immediately began shaking his head and backing up, "OH! No, no, no, no, no. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm a scientist doctor. I don't even like being near germs let alone sick people." he told him.

"Then who is the doctor to help us?" Ganus asked looking at John and the rest of his team.

"Natalie is," John said with a half smile on his face.

When Ganus looked at Natalie he raised his brow in surprise, the woman looked like she was ready to kill anything that dared threaten her – she had multiple weapons on her, a few small knives, a sword and two guns the biggest of which was in her hands at the moment.

"You," Ganus said looking at her in surprise. "You are a doctor?" he questioned unbelieving.

At that Natalie gave a small smirk and shook her head, "Technically no, but I help out in the infirmary often enough so that I have more then the basic training and will be able to try and help your people and what I'm not able to do I will be able to take samples and take them back home and have some of the doctors there do tests to try and see if they might be able to figure you a way to cure your people." she told him as she shifted her med bag on her shoulders once again.

When Natalie said she wasn't a real doctor Ganus looked at her hesitantly, unsure if he should allow her to take a look at his people. "I do not know if I should allow you to look at my people, I would prefer it if an actual doctor would mayhap take a look over them instead. A doctor who has had training."

Before Natalie was able to respond to that and try and convince Ganus to let her help his people Ronon stood in front of Ganus and stared him down, "Your people are already dying form this disease and we are offering you out help. Natalie looking at them and trying to help them won't make things worse then they already are." he said to him with a pointed look.

"I,I am sorry." Ganus said to Natalie apologetically. "I know I should not be so choosy about who helps my people, I should be glad to accept any help. Please you are welcome to any of our medicines that are in our storage and to anything else that you may need." he said to her and then quickly scurried off.

Once Ganus was out of earshot Natalie turned and leveled Ronon with a glare, "You know most times I'm usually amused by people getting scared of you when you threaten then but really Ronon, he's an old man whose people are dying."

"Who have an even bigger chance of dying if he wouldn't have let you help them." He pointed out to her.

Natalie opened her mouth to argue with him but before she was able to John stepped between the two, "Okay, okay you two are worse then an old married couple seriously. You guys must have been together in another life or something." he said shaking his head. "So what's the verdict Nat?"

Taking a deep breath Natalie let it out slowly, "Not good from what I can see, not good at all. I may not have gone to med school or even know a third of what Carson and Keller know but I can already tell that we might be too late for more then half of these people. The only chance that these people have of beating this sickness is finding a cure otherwise all of these people are on deaths door and death is just patiently waiting until its time to take them." she said with a shrug, being painfully honest was always the best way to go – no lying or deceiving or dancing around the truth.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine," Rodney said to her sarcastically.

Natalie just rolled her eyes in response to that, sometimes she enjoyed Rodney's rudeness/honesty and at other times it made her want to blow his head off or feed him to a wraith.

"So what do you need us to do?" Ronon asked with crossed arms.

"You mean other then getting Carson and Keller over here to help these people?" Natalie asked rhetorically, at John's look she continued. "Getting a hold of one of those nasty bug things that these people got bite by would be pretty awesome." she said honestly.

For a few moments both John and Rodney looked at Natalie like she was insane, which she quite possibly might be. Trying to go and find one of those things and then capturing it to take back to Atlantis was quite dangerous in itself – this bug sounded almost as bad as the erratus bug that john had gotten infected by a few years ago.

"You can't be serious." John said to her.

"Serious as a heart attack I'm afraid." Natalie told them honestly as she walked over to an empty bed to set her med bag on to look through it for some of the things she might need to help treat these people if not ease the pain.

Rodney looked at her incredulously, "And how may I ask, do you expect us to get one of these things?"

When he said that Natalie turned away from her bag and smirked at Rodney, seeing the smirk that Natalie was giving Rodney made Ronon grin, he could already tell what his girlfriend was going to say to the idiotic scientist.

"Glad you asked Rodney, because that is where you come into the plan." Natalie said as she stalked towards him making him back up, it was an amusing sight to see seeing as Rodney had a few inches on Natalie yet here he was backing up afraid of her. "You see Rodney my plan was to use you as bait to lure out these bugs."

"B..Bait?" Rodney asked his eyes widening.

Natalie nodded at him with a smile, "Yup, you Rodney my friend are going to be the bait. I'm sure you are delectable enough for the tastes of these bugs."

Rodney backed up farther away from her, "You wouldn't dare." he said with a shaky voice.

Sighing heaving Natalie shook her head, "Alas I can't, John and Carter would probably get a tad bit angry at me for doing that." she told him as she went back to taking things out of her med bag. "So instead I'm going to have to settle for you and Ronon going out and hunting one down for me." she told him. "With Ronon going along with you there's a slightly less chance of you messing up or getting yourself into some sort of trouble. Not to mention he's a way better hunter then you."

"How come I always get stuck with Chewie, he can do it by himself can't he?" Rodney whined as he looked between Natalie, John and Ronon. 

John shook his head at the childishness of his friend, "Rodney just go, and no complaining or else I will let Ronon shoot you in the ass." he threatened. "Are you sure you aren't three years old?"

Rodney didn't even deem that with a response, before Rodney was able to think up of another reason to get out of going hunting for one of those bugs Ronon grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him out of the building. "Come on McKay lets go hunting."

Once Ronon and Rodney were gone John turned to look at Natalie and shook his head in amusement, Natalie who had been looking at him when he did that shrugged at him. "What?" she asked.

"Do you enjoy torturing Rodney like that? You can only threaten him so much before he will start rebelling." John told her.

Natalie smirked, "Whose to say that I won't follow through on my threats, besides I will just sick Ronon on him if he pisses me off enough. I'm pretty sure he'll always be afraid of him." she said cheekily. "Now come lets get to work, Ronon and Rodney aren't the only ones who get to have some 'fun' so to say." she said using air quotes and saying the word fun in an overly sarcastic tone of voice.

Just as Natalie had said they had work to do, seeing as John didn't really know much medical stuff except for the bare minimum and what he learned when he was in the army Natalie put him in charge of basic easy stuff that he could do like cleaning wounds and whatnot. While he was doing that Natalie was tending to the more serious cases of the illness and drawing blood from the people so that she could take it back to base and have Carson or Keller analyze it and see what they can do to help these people.

"Ma'am?" Natalie questioned to the older woman that she was helping, it was obvious that she was in pain and from the looks of things took the pain out on herself – she had ropes tied to her hands and ankles to keep her secured to the bed she was on. "I need you to drink this, I know it more then likely taste's terrible but it should help at least a little bit."

The woman who had curly black greying hair looked up at Natalie pleadingly and grabbed what she could of her hand, "Please just kill me, make this pain stop. I cannot stand it any longer. All my family has already died from this, my husband is gone, my two children and my grandchildren. Please just end this for me." she begged.

Natalie closed her eyes for a moment to control her emotions, seeing the woman looking at her so desperately and wishing for death so badly brought tears to Natalie's eyes almost. "I am here to help you. This stuff should help with the pain, I can find something that can put you to sleep for a while but it will only last a few hours." she said taking pity on the poor, lonely woman who really had nothing left to live for.

"Please...it would let me forget even if it's only for a moments sake." The woman said looking at her in what was almost relief. "What is your name child?" she asked as Natalie started to get the medicine ready.

"My name is Natalie." she replied to her.

The woman looked at Natalie with a serene smile, "You look like my daughter when she was younger, only she had much darker yellow colored hair then you." she said to her. "Do you have a family Natalie? Children?" she asked curiously.

At that Natalie gave a half smile, "I don't have any children but I have a man that I love more then anything and an older sister, her husband, two nieces and my mom. But they live very far away and I haven't been able to see them for quite a few years."

"You should try and take the time to go and see your family, and cherish what you have. You should always cherish what you have, cherish the man that you love and let him know how much you care and love him even if he isn't the type to say it back." the woman said to her again.

Natalie gave her a tight smile, "I will ma'am I promise. Now here drink this whole cup up." she said as she released one of the woman's bound hands so that she could drink the concoction of medicine and sedative that she made up for her.

It's been almost two hours since Natalie had sent Rodney and Ronon off to find one of the bugs for her so that they could take it back to Atlantis and so far since they have been gone Natalie has been working nonstop on giving these people medicine, taking blood samples for them, trying to make up some concoction of medicine's for these people to take hoping that the combination of them all will help them. At the moment though, John was trying to convince her to stop for a little while to take a break.

"Natalie stop and sit and just breathe for a little while," John said as he grabbed a hold of Natalie's arm and pulled her to sit down on one of the vacant beds. "These people aren't going to go and run off on you, trust me. They'll still be here after you take a fifteen minute break." he told her.

Natalie opened her mouth to protest, "But-"

John shook his head, "No, you're taking a break and if I have to order you to do so I will Natalie. Don't put it past me." he said to her sternly.

"Fine." she said as she grabbed a water bottle and took a big swig of it.

"Are you okay?" John asked her.

In response to that Natalie gave a half hearted shrug, "Yeah I guess, I'm just frustrated that I can't do more for these people. I mean no matter what I do I already know it wont really do them much good. I wish I could do more for them and make them comfortable, I can only ease the pain for them for so long before it comes back." she said dejectedly.

"Nat you aren't a doctor, you didn't go to school for it but from what Carson and Keller have taught you up in the infirmary while you were out of commission I think you are doing pretty good at helping these people." John told her. "You can't be so hard on yourself Natalie, you can't save everybody. You know that." he said to her.

Hearing that statement Natalie gave a humorless laugh, "Yeah I know that almost better then most people." she said quietly thinking about James and some of the other people that she has tried to help over the years while going on missions with her team; even if the missions go relatively well some people do end up getting killed.

For a few moments neither Natalie nor John said much of anything, the two just taking a rest from helping all of the people who were sick. For how small of a village the place was there sure was a lot of work that had to be done to help all of the ones who were sick.

"Do you two mind if I join you?" Ganus asked the two Atlanteans. "I have some things that I must tell you."

John looked up and shook his head at Ganus, "No go right a head this is your village after all, you can sit if you want to." he said motioning to the empty bed that was across from him and Natalie.

Ganus smiled at him, "It is still polite to ask rather then do," he stated to them as he took a seat.

Both John and Natalie looked at each other curiously wondering what it was exactly that Ganus wanted to tell them, John cleared his throat and looked at Ganus once again. "What exactly is it that you wanted to tell us Ganus?"

"I have told you little of this bug that has been terrorizing our lives," Ganus started. "It is not all that large, barely the size of my fist, we have called it the Krataken. It is a vibrant green color, it latches itself onto it's host by its small razor like teeth that are on it's tentacles and then once it is sure that it has a good hold of the person it injects it's poison into their hosts body. I have seen this creature in action, once it has finish injecting its poison it lets go of its hosts and dies within moments. The people who are the unlucky souls to have been bitten usually die withing two months, something longer if they are very strong willed and others who are weaker then most only last a month at the most." he said to them forlornly.

"What kind of after effects does this Krataken have on the people?" Natalie asked looking at Ganus curiously.

Ganus closed his eyes sadly before he looked up at Natalie and John, "The one thing that a person can expect if they are bitten is pain, unbelievable amounts of pain. The person will feel so much pain that they will do anything to just stop feeling for a while. Some of my people have eventually killed themselves within days of getting this sickness because they were unable to take the pain." he explained to them. "Food became to be of little help to them, if they ate anything heaving then a light broth or sandwich the people would immediately be sick and get rid of what they had eaten."

Hearing that Natalie shook her head sadly, it does not sound like it would be a very fun experience not that it is meant to be.

"People become delusional, hallucinate and towards the end of the sickness are too weak to be able to move, breathe, talk or anything really at all. Sometimes near the end, they start coughing and hacking up blood and that is when we know that it will be time for them to leave this life and go onto the next."

Letting out a deep breath John looked at Ganus seriously, "Believe me when I say this Ganus, my people and I will do everything in our power to make sure that we find a cure or a way to at least make all of you a bit more comfortable then you are at the moment." he told him sincerely. "We have doctors back on base who are much more trained in the medical field then Natalie and I are. They will be able to help."

Ganus looked at John sadly, "I truly hope they can," Ganus said as he stood up from his seat. "Because I fear if they do not that we will all perish and no one deserves for all of their people to die off." he said to them and walked off.

"I hate getting bad news and then even worse news." Natalie said with a shake of her head.

~_~_~_~ ~_~_~ 1 _~_~_~_~ 1 _~_~_~_~_~ 1 ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After talking with Ganus Natalie went up to one of the head healers of the village and began giving her instructions on to how to care for the sick and what the medicine's do and how much they should give to them – she also ordered her to give it to the people sparingly since there were so many people there and that it would have to last them for a while until they could find out more about the illness.

At the moment though Natalie was packing up her medical bag so that she, John, Ronon and Rodney could go back to Atlantis and tell Carter what they found – well once Ronon and Rodney came back from hunting down one of these Krataken bugs for her to take back to Atlantis.

Just as Natalie was about to stand up and go check on some of the people one more time just to make sure that they were doing okay and for something to do, something suddenly came flying past her head and landed on the ground a few feet in front of her. Shifting a bit so she could turn her head, Natalie looked behind her and saw Ronon's smirking face.

"Got you your bug."

Natalie grinned as she turned around all the way, "Awe how thoughtful of you, I always wanted a man to get me such a nice and thoughtful gift like this." she said to him jokingly as she dug around in her med bag for some latex gloves and a container that she could put the nasty little thing in. "Wasn't too hard to find one of these was it?" she asked as she quickly dropped the thing in the container and shut it, no knowing how smart these things were exactly, better to be safe then not.

"No," Ronon said as he helped her up from her kneeling position. "Ton of them in the middle of the forest, looks like it's their nest." he told her as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I can't wait to get you back to our room. You look all womanly, hot and needing some release." he said to her sensually and quickly stole a kiss from her. "McKay was convinced there was a whole pack of them following us the whole way back here because we apparently took their leader."

Natalie laughed at that, "Someone's paranoid." she said shaking her head in amusement at Rodney's overly paranoid self and then leaned against Ronon and closed her eyes for a few moments, it's been a busy last few hours with her helping people if she could, giving them medicine, helping them out of bed so that she could do a few tests that Carson told her about and things like that.

Ronon looked down at Natalie and gave a half smile and wrapped his arms around her smaller body, he loved the feeling of her warm and obvious curvy body pressed against his.

"Oh come on!" Rodney said in frustration. "Anywhere we look and all we see is you two wrapped around each other. I mean do you guys have no restraint?" he asked them.

In response to that Ronon just raised his brow at Rodney, who just huffed at the six foot plus man.

"Okay, okay Ronon stop intimidating Rodney and let go of Natalie. It's time to go and tell Carter what we found out." John said as he shook his head at the three. "You know it's a good thing that you guys aren't on the same team you would always be sneaking off to have sex all of the time." he said as he and Rodney walked out of the temporary hospital building.

Sighing Natalie stepped out of Ronon's grasp, "Some days I really want to kill that man." she said to him as she grabbed her med bag and started to make her way back towards the Stargate so that they could go back home to Atlantis.

Ronon grinned, "I did tell you that I would hold him down and let you shoot him." he told her as they were walking towards where Rodney and John were waiting for them outside.

"But then I wouldn't get the same gratification if I would chase and hunt him down, having Sheppard just held down for me to kill him is just not as fun or rewarding."

John looked at the two, "You guys do know that I can hear you right?" he asked as he gave them a pointed look.

Ronon gave him a stoic look, "Maybe that was the point." he said evenly which made John shudder a bit.

"Come on lets just get out of here." John said instead of responding to Ronon's empty threat.

A/N: Hope you guys like this redone version, the first one i did of this just did not flow the way i wanted it to. Please review it would make my life happy and getting some kind of email that wasn't college related or having ot do with homework i need ot do it would be greatly appreciated.


	46. Aftermath

Disclaimer: not mind

A/N: Here is please review, i always love and appreciate them. so yeah tell me what you think

Chapter forty-six

As the four were making their way back up towards the Stargate Natalie started to get a bad feeling in her stomach, like something was going to go wrong and that she and the others should be wary of their surroundings.

"Be on the look out guys, these things could attack us." Natalie said as she grasped her gun more securely and started to look all around her for any place that these things might attack them from.

Rodney sighed loudly, "Natalie these things are in the middle of the forest, not even within a ten minute walk from here." he told her exasperated.

Hearing that Natalie looked at Rodney with a glare, "Rodney how exactly do you think so many people got infected? Because they were attacked in close proximity to the village you dimwitted fool."

"Check for life signs Rodney." John demanded quietly as they continued to walk towards the Stargate.

"I did that five minutes ago they're-"

"Do it!" Ronon demanded angrily.

Pulling out the device Rodney did so, "Look see I don't see any but-" he suddenly stopped and stared at the closer moving group of life signs that were definitely more then a dozen of them. "Shit."

"What?" John asked turning to look at Rodney. "What is it?"

"There's at least two dozen life signs on here which are definitely not the villagers." he said to them. "We'd be able to see or hear them by now." Rodney stated.

Natalie looked at him with a raised brow, "And you said that there weren't any life signs but ours, wanna rephrase that perhaps?" she asked him.

"Shut up, we all make mistakes sometimes." Rodney grumbled at her.

John looked between Natalie and Rodney and sighed, sometimes he truly did feel like a parent to the two. "Kids stop fighting or else I'm going to leave you two here." he said which made them both shut up quickly. "So what you are trying to tell me Rodney is that you are picking up the life signs of the Krataken?"

"So it would seem," Rodney grumbled still a bit offended at what Natalie had insinuated.

"Well ain't that just dandy," John said in annoyance. "We won't be able to take all of them on or kill them all. As much as I hate to say this we might have to run." he stated.

Rodney's shoulders slumped at that sentence, "I hate running, I am not made to run." he said to him.

At that Ronon rolled his eyes, "Yeah well you're going to have to run." he said as he looked at John. "So what's the plan?"

John shrugged, "Run as fast and as hard as you can towards the Stargate and hope to god that we fucking make it before a horde of those things attach themselves to us." he said to them.

"Oh, well that sounds easy." Natalie said to him sarcastically.

"Nothing easy about this job." John replied. "now when I say run, we run like hell. Whoever gets to the Stargate first type in the address for home." he said and once he got nods in response he looked behind him and then ahead of him where they were planning on running towards.

Rodney looked at John hesitantly, "Are you sure about this? I me-"

"RUN!" John yelled interrupting whatever it was that Rodney was going to say to him.

The moment that they all started running was when all of the Krataken decided that they were going to come out of their hiding spots and attack the group of four; John, Natalie and Ronon thankfully placed some well aimed shots at the Krataken and killed the first few of them that had jumped up to try and latch onto them but there were plenty more chasing after them.

"How the hell can they run so fast when they don't even really have legs?" Rodney asked rhetorically as he was running and already looked like he was out of breath.

"Just shoot at them Rodney," Ronon said as he shot at one that was about to get onto Rodney's head.

Turning around while running Natalie shot at a Krataken that was deathly close to grabbing onto Ronon's forearm, there was no way in fucking hell that she was going to allow one of those things to get onto her man. Looking away from Ronon, Natalie was that there were at least four or five of the Krataken flying/leaping whatever it was that they did, right in her direction.

Natalie tried to shoot at all of them but there was only so many of those tiny little bastards that she could take on at one time, thankfully though over the years she has gotten a lot better at long distance running – you have to be to be able to go on off world missions where there's a possibility of you being shot at a lot of the time.

Just as Natalie and the others were about to make it to the clearing that the Stargate was in so that they could dial Atlantis and get their asses out of there Natalie tripped on something, the moment that Natalie realized what happened she tried as fast as she could to get up and shoot some of the Krataken before they were able to get to her. She wasn't fast enough though and one of the Krataken latched itself onto her forearm, frantically Natalie grabbed at the thing and tried to get it off of her before it was able to inject the poison into her but it was too late. The poison was already making its way through her blood stream.

Only seconds after latching onto her arm did the Krataken let go and then die, once it unlatched itself and died more of the Krataken's tried to launch themselves at Natalie and get a piece of her but before they were able to do that a red energy blast shot and killed them all. Looking up from her spot on the ground Natalie saw Ronon who was looking at Natalie with a look that she had never seen on his face before – he was afraid, not for himself but for Natalie and what just happened to her.

Without thinking Ronon strode over to her and hauled her up into his arms and ran towards the Stargate where John was already putting the address for Atlantis in, when John saw Natalie in Ronon's arms he looked at the two questioningly.

"What happened?" he asked.

Ronon gave a dark look, "She was bit by one of those things." he growled out.

"What?" John asked in shock. "Are you sure?" he asked looking between the two.

When John said that Ronon looked at him with a feral glare, "Yes I'm fucking sure. Contact Atlantis and tell them that we need a medical team." he stated.

"Ronon," Natalie groaned as she looked up at the man that she loved more then anything in her life. "Please Ronon, It hurts." she said to him with a tight expression, many times over the years Natalie has been in pain and put through hell and back but nothing like this kind of pain before.

Those Krataken may be small but their bite is far worse then their bark as the saying goes.

John looked at Natalie briefly before he radioed Atlantis, "Atlantis this is Sheppard, come in." he stated and waited for a reply.

"Sheppard this is Atlantis what's your status?" Carter's voice said through the ear comm.

For a moment John said nothing, "Carter we're going ot need a med team for Vance, she's been bitten by the bug that's been killing all the people off." he said grimly while looking over at said person who Ronon was looking at as if the world would end without her right besides him.

"How is -" Carter said cutting herself off.

"Big guy isn't looking like he is going ot handle it very well." John said to her honestly.

Carter sighed over the ear comm, "A med team will be ready and waiting for you guys to get here." she said to him.

With that said John went back to putting the gate address in, he put the last symbol in and the gate was activated and ready to be used. John looked over at Ronon sadly and motioned for him to go first since he had the injured Natalie in his arms, once they had gone Rodney and John went through and when they got to the other side of the gate they were greeted with the sight of a barely conscious Natalie being rushed away from the Gate Room and to the infirmary by Carson and Keller.

~_~_~ ^ _~_~_~ ^^ _~_~_~_ A few Hours Later ~_~_~ ^^ ~_~_~_~ ^ ~_~_~

It's been a couple of hours since John, Rodney and Ronon had brought the injured Natalie back from the mission where she had gotten bite by the Krataken bug and at the moment Natalie was in a private room. Her room had massive glass windows in it that were up at least a story or so, and on that level her friends were looking down through the windows at her in concern wondering what exactly was going to happen to her now. The only one who wasn't up there was Ronon, instead Ronon had positioned himself in a chair besides Natalie's bed waiting for her to wake up – she passed a few hours ago when Carson had given her some medicine so that he could run some tests on her.

"How is she?" Carter asked as she came up behind Carson and all the others who were worried about Natalie, Teyla had even managed to get out of staying in bed for the next few days so that she could come and see how Natalie was doing.

When Carter asked that Carson sighed heavily, "The lass has all of the same symptoms as the people back in that village do, she is in quite a lot of pain but is able to hold it back pretty well since we gave 'er some pain meds, I've 'ave put her on some antibiotics and some other things hoping that maybe one of these things or combination of them will be able to help or cure her." he said to her.

Carter nodded at that and looked down through the window at where Natalie and Ronon were, Ronon had his and Natalie's hands intertwined and his head was resting on her chest listening to her heart and more then likely making sure that she was still alive. Ronon was taking the whole situation pretty badly, no one has dared really say anything to him since he went into the isolation room with her.

"So what exactly is this poison doing to her?" Lorne asked speaking up for the first time since he was told about what happened to Natalie.

"The poison is working itself through her body, over the next few weeks to months Natalie is going to become steadily weaker and weaker. Eventually she wont even be able to lift her own limbs anymore, or do anything on her own she will need help with everything, even eating and showering. Once that starts to happen then she will start coughing up blood, which is a bad sign. When that happens it means that all of her organs are starting to shut themselves off because of the damage that has been done to them from the poison." he told them all with a regretful shake of his head, he knew loosing someone that you know is hard but it's even worse when it's a friend that you have seen in and out for the last four years almost.

Emilia looked at everyone's downcast expression and then at Carson, "She's gonna be all right though right? You're going to fix her up and cure her right Carson? Carson?" Emilia asked looking at him with a frantic and scared expression on her face.

Carson sighed, "I do not know dear, if we don't find a cure for her within a month or less then we won't be able to save Natalie. This is a new and very debilitating sickness that Natalie has the misfortune of being infected with and the mortality rate is very high from, what I have learned from Natalie and the others mission on that planet." he said to Emilia sadly, he knew those weren't the words that she wanted to hear but it was the truth and it was better to tell the truth then to lie for her for her own peace of mind, it would only end up hurting her worse in the end.

For a few moments no one said anything just soaking in that information that Carson just gave them, "You know Ronon isn't going to be happy when you tell him that." John said as he ran his hands through his hair. "And I am not going to want to be you when you tell him that."

Teyla nodded in agreement, "Ronon is going to do everything in his power and beyond it to be certain that Natalie is cured from this." she said looking at everyone. "He will not give up, Ronon doesn't know how to."

"I know," Carter said with a sigh. "That is what I'm afraid of, I don't want him to go on a suicide mission and get himself killed."

"If it means he will be able to save Natalie then Ronon will do anything," John said seriously, he's known Ronon for a few years now and knows that he would sacrifice himself if he could save her. "He will go against orders if it saves Natalie's life, I know that. He would fight me just to save her and give her one more hour to live." he told her with a dead serious expression on his face.

The first thing that Natalie comprehended when she woke up later that day was that for one she was in pain, not like the intense pain that she had felt when she had first been bitten by the Krataken but kinda more like a stab wound. The second thing that she noticed was that Ronon was using her as a pillow at the moment, snoring and everything. Natalie looked down at his somewhat serene sleeping face and smiled – one thing Natalie loved doing but never got to do all that often was watch Ronon sleep. When he was sleeping he looked so much more at peace, especially now more then anything. Natalie already knew without talking to him that Ronon was having a hard time with everything, especially after they all saw the stages of the disease from the Krataken back on that planet. Natalie may look fine at first and maybe look like she was getting better but soon after that she would get weaker and weaker until eventually she would die.

The door to the room that Natalie was in opened and in walked Keller, who when she noticed that Natalie was awake immediately went to her side and started to check on her vitals and to see if there was anything that she could do for her.

"Natalie, how are you? Are you feeling okay. Are you in any pain, are you uncomfortable?" Keller asked quickly and in one breath as she looked over Natalie as if she thought that some wound would magically appear while she was there.

Natalie looked at Keller in amusement, "Considering the circumstance I feel okay at the moment, there's some pain but nothing that I can't bear. I mean come on it's me we're talking about, I can take pain pretty well. At least I'd like to think so." she said quietly, not wanting wake Ronon up from his sleep.

"Carson mixed up a few pain killers for you and gave them to you, we weren't sure how bad the pain was so we hoped for the bess when we made the concoction on pain medicine for you." Keller said with a barely there smile. "We're hoping that the longer we keep you on the pain meds that you will be able to last long enough for us to find a cure for you."

When Natalie heard that she couldn't help but scoff, "Keller be serious, you and I both know what information I brought back from that planet who have the bug infested on their planet and we know what the probability of me living through this is." she said looking at Keller seriously. "Don't sugar coat things Keller it will only hurt you more in the end."

Looking away from Natalie, Keller sighed. "I know that it's unlikely for you to live Natalie but I don't want you to die. If I start thinking about what this disease does and what will start happening to you then I'll go crazy. I just can't think about that right now."

"I know," Natalie said quietly, she herself has barely come to accept what happened and if she was being completely truthful she was acting like Keller and pretending that it wasn't there and that she was just in the infirmary because she was really sick rather then because she has an incurable disease.

Looking away from Keller's sad and depressed face Natalie looked down at Ronon and silently traced the tattoo's on his neck, the tattoo that he had signified that he was a Satedan – every Satedan get's one once they become of age.

Keller gave a smile when she saw the way that Natalie was looking at Ronon, they were the next Romeo and Juliet, or Buttercup and Wesley. Their love was strong and intense, anyone who saw them on a regular basis would know that and would know that nothing would be able to keep them apart from one and another.

"I'm going to go and see if I can get someone to bring some food up here for you to eat, I think something light like soup or something along those lines." Keller said as she started to walk back towards the door.

Giving Keller a look of thanks Natalie ran her hands over Ronon's hair, "Get something for the big guy here too. I think he's going to be needing it."

Once Keller had left Natalie gave a heavy sigh, she really didn't want to think about was going to be coming in the next few months. What she was going to be going through, she saw those people and she knew that it was very unlikely for her to even last more then a month or so. It was too soon for Natalie to die, there were things that she still wanted to do in both her galaxy and in Ronon's – hell if Natalie was honest she personally thought that the Pegasus galaxy was way more fun then the Milky Way. But the one thing that Natalie was the most worried about was Ronon, he may be strong and fierce when fighting but losing Natalie would completely break him, no doubt about that. He would definitely do something completely rash and stupid that would end up getting him killed if and when Natalie does die.

"Stop worrying about me," Ronon said startling Natalie from her thoughts and making her jump a bit.

Natalie looked down at Ronon who was looking at her intensely, "I can't help but worry. It's what I do." she told him with a shrug. "Besides who says I was worrying about you?" she asked him with a playful smile on her face, anything to keep her mind off of the illness that she now has.

"You get a certain look on your face when you are worrying about me," Ronon told her knowingly. "I love you Natalie and I know almost everything about you." he told her as he sat up and looked down at her.

That made Natalie give him a small, genuine smile. "I love you Ronon, more then anything." she stated.

Ronon leaned down towards her and kissed her gently when she said that, "I love you, more then I've ever let myself love someone in a long time." he said to her and rested his head against her forehead. "I will do everything to make sure that you will live. I won't lose you, I refuse to lose you." he told her.

"Ronon," Natalie said and looked at him. "I know this is hard, that we haven't even been together a dear but you and I both saw the things those people went and heard what they said about the survival rate. I am going to die Ronon." she said to him and blinked away some of the tears that were already in her eyes.

"No."

At that Natalie looked at Ronon with a questioning look, "No?" she asked.

"No, you aren't going to die. I won't let you die." Ronon said to her quietly. "You are not going to leave me Natalie, you are going to live. We will find a cure." he said to her determinedly.

Looking at Ronon, Natalie was about to argue back and say that they both knew that it would be doubtful to find a cure but seeing the look on Ronon's face she decided to not say anything. She knew Ronon and he was not going to let her argue about her impending death and the possibility of their not being a cure.

After that the two just sat in relative silence, both just holding hands and looking at each other and enjoying one and another's company. Both silently agreeing not to broach the subject of Natalie's death and Ronon willing to get himself killed just to try and find a cure for Natalie. In retrospect Natalie doesn't blame him per se, if Ronon had died or was going to die with little to no chances of living she would do what she could to save him and if she couldn't save him and he died she would want to die too then, to be with him.

~_~_~ ^^^ ~_~_~^^^ ~_^ Conference Room: a few days later _~_~^^ ~_~_~^ ~_~_

While Natalie was strictly confined to bed rest for the next who knows how long, Carter and the others were having a meeting about trying to think of something that will kill off the Krataken once and for all so that they wouldn't have to worry about something like this happening ever again.

"Just let me go in there and shoot 'em all up," Ronon suggested with his arm crossed as if it should have been obvious what they should do.

Carter sighed when Ronon said that, "As good of an idea as that is Ronon, it won't work. There's no saying how many there are and if you will be able to kill all of them and we need to be sure that they are once and for all gone." she told him.

"You have any better ideas?" Ronon asked her with a dark glare.

"Why don't we just evacuate everyone?" McKay asked. "It would be a whole lot easier than trying to salvage the planet that is infested with Krataken."

When he said that Teyla looked over at him, "Because Rodney other people may come to that planet through the Stargate and they will end up suffering the same fate as the people in that village have. No one deserves that fate." she stated.

"So far I'm leaning towards going with Ronon's idea," Emilia said speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. "None of us have had much better idea's and we probably can't think of anything better. Or maybe instead of thinking of a way to kill these things off we should try and figure out a way to save Natalie and then once she's all better then we can think of something to kill of those damn bugs." she said angrily and stalked out of the room.

For a few moments after that no one said anything really, they just stared after where Emilia stormed out of the room. "She's angry over the whole thing going on with Natalie." Lorne said with a sigh and then followed after his girlfriend.

So for the next half an hour they all discussed ways that they could try and kill off the Krataken without killing or hurting people of the surrounding tows and villages but so far they haven't really been able to come up with anything realistic that would work. Finally though, Carter thought of something that might work but she wasn't sure though seeing as it sounds a bit out there.

"What if we use a gas bomb?" Cater asked as she looked around the table.

When she said that McKay looked at her as if she had lost her mind, "Carter I know that you are nearly as smart as I am but a gas bomb would kill all of the people in that village." he said to her.

"Yes Rodney I realize that but we could maybe alter the bomb so that it won't kill the people but instead the Krataken bug that has infested the planet. That way it will get rid of them once and for all without hurting any of the people."

"Is it going to work?" John asked looking between Rodney and Carter.

"We can make it work," Rodney said already typing on his tablet to figure something out that will kill the Krataken.

Ronon glanced at him, "You better find a way to kill them, the faster we kill them the faster we can save Natalie." he said and strode out of the room to go and see Natalie.

A/N: hope you guys like this chapter, i know it took me forever to get this out and stuff but i eventually did.


	47. Hope

Disclaimer: As usual not mind. Sadness.

A/N: Hope you like this chapter, a little more tense if i do say so my self. And seriously people i really do need and like to read revires, i mean i know it may be hard to do but reviewing after you read the chapter shouldnt be that hard of a thing to ask you.

A/N2: Im not trying to be mean but i would like to see what your take is on the whole thing that is happening with Natalie.

Chapter forty-seven

The weeks went by and along with them went Natalie's health, where at one time Natalie was able to get out of bed on her own and able to walk around her private room if she so chose so she now was unable to get out of bed without assistance. Keller and Carson have tried everything that they could possibly think of to help Natalie to try and fight the 'Krataken Disease' as everyone in Atlantis was now calling it, but even with all of their experimental medicine concoctions there was still no change in Natalie's health. The only thing that really gave Natalie any sort of relief was the pain medicine so she at least had some relief from the pain.

Both Natalie's team and Ronon's team were doing everything that they could to try and find out anything that they could possibly find out about the Krataken or about anything that could possibly cure Natalie and all those people from the disease that they now had, even if it was about a witch doctor or some animal fur that had magical properties that would cure everyone they wanted to know about it so that they could try and use it. But so far they haven't had any luck in that department.

Everyday almost like clock work Ronon was with Natalie; sitting besides her bed, eating with her, just watching her sleep or holding her hand just to have some sort of physical contact with her but more often then not he was there to make sure she was still alive. The others come to visit Natalie once in a while too, just to see how she was doing. Even Rodney comes and visits her at least two or three times a week, which for Rodney was quite surprising.

At the moment though, Becky and Teyla were sitting with Natalie in her private room were doing the whole girls day thing; it took a lot of convincing on Natalie's part but eventually she got Ronon to leave her and the girls alone for at least a few hours.

"Sooooo, Becky." Natalie said in a sing song voice as she looked over at her best friend of at least fifteen years with a big smirk.

When Natalie said that Becky looked at her friend suspiciously, "Soooo what?" Becky questioned back.

Natalie gave a small laugh when Becky did that, "When exactly are you planning on asking John out. I'm getting sick and tired of the two of you dancing around each other and flirting all of the time yet never acting on the attraction that is sooo obvious between the two of you." she said giving her a pointed look.

For a few moments Becky just straight out stared at Natalie, looking at her as if she was completely insane. "What? I..I don't like John. What the hell gave you that idea?" she asked averting her eyes from Natalie's – when her friend wanted to be she could be quite convincing.

"Oh come on Becky, don't lie to me." Natalie said with a roll of her eyes. "It's really obvious that you two like each other. Whenever you possibly can you both sit by one and another, when you two are across the room form one and another you try and position yourselves so you are pointed in one and another's direction." she said to her knowingly. "I swear you guys are so much more worse then Emi and Lorne were. I mean come on."

"Natalie I don't like-" Becky started to say but was cut off by Teyla.

Teyla gave Becky a soft smile, "Becky it is no use to say that you do not like him, it is quite obvious to everyone but the two of you that you both find each other appealing in more then just the friendship way. And believe me John does like you, I would know. I have known him for quite some years now." she stated to the speechless Becky.

Natalie smiled at her friend in amusement and took some of the medicine that Carson and Keller had told her to take at certain times in the day, "Come on Becky get with the program and ask the man out already. It's not the 1950's anymore, no one looks down on a girl who asks a man out. In fact, I think they tend to think its hot when they do so." she said with a small laugh. "Unless of course you are sure you don't like him." she said with a raised brow.

Becky crossed her arms, "Of course I don't like him." she said quickly.

"Right," Natalie said unconvinced and looked at Teyla. "Hey Teyla know anyone that we could set John up on a date with since Becky here seems to think she doesn't like the man." she asked cheekily.

"Seriously Natalie?" Becky asked shaking her head at Natalie. "Fine I do like him now quit trying to set us up and let it happen naturally. Besides you shouldn't be worrying about things like this, you should be worrying about your health and about getting better.

Sighing Natalie looked at Becky with a serious expression on her face, "Becky you and everyone's mother knows I'm dying, there is no getting around that no matter what we can do and how stubborn my pissed off boyfriend is. So I'm doing all that I can with the time I have left to hook my friend's up with guys I think they'd be great with and can I just say you and John would make cute babies. Seriously I can already picture there dark curly hair." she said with a half hearted smile on her face, it was still hard for Natalie to talk about her impending death but it was something that she had slowly over the last few weeks come to accept.

After Natalie said that Becky abruptly stood up and glared down at Natalie and quickly left the room before anyone could say anything else to her, once she left Natalie sighed heavily and looked at Teyla sadly. "She still hasn't accepted what is going to happen yet has she?" she asked.

Teyla shook her head sadly, "No I am afraid not my friend, she just like many others of us, has refused to believe what is happening to you. We are doing all that we are able to do to find a cure for you, none of us wish to see you gone from our lives." she said to Natalie and grasped her hand tightly. "I do not wish to lose you Natalie, you are too important to me and many other people to lose you."

"I don't want to leave you guys, I don't want to die but there's not really anything we can do to stop it from happening. So far nothing has worked in stopping this damn disease, Keller and Carson have tried everything that they possibly could and they are even repeating medicine's and adding more stuff to the mix hoping something will cure me." Natalie said looking at her with a painful and saddened look on her face. "I just want to do all that I can do to make all of you guys happy before I die."

Teyla stared at Natalie for a few moments before responding to that comment, "Natalie, we all would be very happy if you were just to survive. You must be strong so that we may have many, many, many more years with you. I'm not telling you that you have to survive for me but you need to survive for yourself and for Ronon. This whole ordeal has been quite hard on him, more so then he lets on to everyone else. Even then what he has shown you." she told her seriously.

Natalie sighed heavily and ran her hands through her hair in aggravation. "I know and I don't know what to do to make this better for him, I've tried telling him that he needs to accept this and realize what is going to happen but he won't hear any of it. He refuses to acknowledge that I'm dying." she said to her in frustration.

"That, my friend is that last thing you should be talking to him about." Teyla said to her knowingly. "If you begin to talk with him about your death then he will think that you have given up, that you have no will to live and do not wish to be cured from this. Is that what you want him to think Natalie?" she asked.

Immediately Natalie shook her head, "No! No, never. I don't want to die, I don't want to leave you guys or Ronon. I want to stay here, stay living and working on Atlantis and spend the rest of my life with Ronon. We may not have been together for very long yet but he IS my life, he's the only one that I will ever want. There were so many more things that I wanted to do with Ronon, things that I thought I would never get the chance to do or have." she said with a sad smile and tears on her eyes.

With Ronon, Natalie could picture herself married, with at least two kids, a house of their own, she would actually give up being a fighter to be a stay at home mom. Never before in her life had Natalie really pictured that in her future, hell she never even wanted to get married before she met Ronon. In fact Natalie used to say that she would happily live in sin for the rest of her life; now though, now Natalie could see why people got married and she wanted that too. She wanted the feeling of getting married to the most amazing and the most important man in her life. Ronon.

"Then Natalie," Teyla said looking into Natalie's eyes. "You must have hope, hope that you will get through this, hope for the strength to beat this disease. Hope for everything that you can even if it seems useless. Without hope there is nothing Natalie." she told her sincerely. "Never lose hope."

Natalie smiled at her softly when she said that, "I know I shouldn't Teyla, I know there are so many things that are worth living for but it's hard to hope when I saw all of those people, saw what the disease did to them and saw what will be happening to me. Everyone who got infected died Teyla, those who were still alive were doomed to death from the moment they were bit. How can I hope to survive when I saw first hand what this damn Krataken disease does?" she asked her in anger and frustration and sadness.

When she said that Teyla just looked at Natalie for a few moments without saying anything to her, "Because Natalie," she said breaking the silence. "None of those people had Ronon fighting for them and doing all that he can to find a cure to this disease. None of those people had a Ronon who loved them so completely like he loves you, he will not accept losing you and letting you die Natalie. That, is why you must hope."

Natalie just sat there and absorbed what Teyla had said to her, it was true what she said about those people, none of them had anyone who was so willing to fight nail and teeth to find a cure for them. No one that would willingly sacrifice themselves and possibly get infected as well just so that they could find something that would cure the disease. Not one of those people had someone who was as stubborn and determined as Ronon.

"I will leave you now," Teyla said suddenly breaking Natalie out of her revelation. "You need your rest and Carson and Keller will have my head if I keep you from it. If it suits you, I will come back with Emilia and Becky to see how you are doing." she said looking at her friend expectantly.

Natalie gave a barely there smile when she said that, "Yeah, I'd like that." she told her.

"Then we will be here, sleep." she commanded to her with one last look and then left Natalie's room.

After Teyla left Natalie tried to go to sleep and get some much needed rest, a lot of the night's she's unable to fall asleep because she's worried about everything that's happening or because she's in pain which she tries to deal with as long as possible until it gets to be unbearable.

There's going to be so many things that Natalie is going to miss once she's gone; her mom, her sister, her two nieces Asia and Rora, her sister Michie, Becky, Emilia, Teyla, John, Lorne and even McKay and Gibson. Most of all Natalie was going to miss Ronon, Ronon is her life and nothing will be able to change that. Whenever Ronon is around he just makes her feel so protected and loved, something that no man has ever really made her feel before. Eventually thoughts of Ronon helped Natalie fall asleep.

When Natalie woke up she noticed that Ronon was sitting besides her bed in the chair that was next to it and was holding her hand, looking at her in concern – he's always looking at her in concern nowadays. He looked tired though, Ronon's eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep, he had bags under his eyes and he's been wearing the same outfit for at least the last three days if not longer, Natalie wasn't sure.

"You should be sleeping," Natalie said as she squeezed Ronon's hand and looked at him in worry.

Ronon shook his head, "Not tired." he said to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked before Natalie was able to argue with him about him needing to get some sleep.

Sighing Natalie answered Ronon, "There's a little bit of pain but nothing that I can't handle for now." she said to him. "You seriously should get some sleep Ronon, really. You look terrible." Natalie said to him.

"No," Ronon said stubbornly and shook his head. "I'm not leaving you." he told her determinedly. "You didn't leave me when I was injured and I'm not going to leave you. So drop the subject."

Natalie gave him a soft smile and reached up and caressed the side of his face, "Okay." she said to him and sat up in bed a bit so that she could have at least a little bit more movement – well more movement for being confined to a small space so to say.

Hearing Natalie give in so easily made Ronon look at her in surprise but he didn't question it, he didn't want to fight with Natalie he just wanted to spend as much time with her as he possibly could. Ronon brought his chair as close as he could possibly get it to Natalie's bed and held her hand in his big ones as tightly as he could, as if he thought that he could lose her at any point in time.

"I want you to be happy after I'm gone Ronon," Natalie said after twenty minutes of silence.

When Natalie said that Ronon pulled away from her and looked as if she had gone completely insane, "No." he said to her lowly.

Natalie took a breath when he said that, "Ronon, you de-"

"NO!" Ronon yelled at her. "We're not talking about this." he told her fiercely.

Looking at Ronon sympathetically, "Ronon I know you don't want to talk about this, hell I don't want to talk about this but we need to. I'm getting weaker and weaker each day Ronon, the pain is getting worse, I can barely even eat anything anymore and I need help just walking to the bathroom which is more then embarrassing. And I'm having coughing fits all of the time now, it's a bad sign Ronon. You and I both know that."

"I'm not going to promise you something that I know I won't keep." Ronon said to her with a serious look on his face. "If you die then there's nothing stopping me from following you. I won't live my life without you. I love you, you are mine and nothing will take you from me. Not even death." he said to her.

When Ronon said that to her Natalie looked at him, "I don't want you to sacrifice yourself Ronon. I don't want you to die along with me, I want you to live and be-" before she was able ti finish that sentence Ronon cut her off by pulling her into a passionate kiss.

Pulling away Ronon looked at her, "Don't talk about things that we don't need to worry about right now." he said to her as he brushed some of her hair out of her face. "All right?"

Sighing Natalie nodded reluctantly, "Fine, but we will talk about this soon Ronon. I won't forget." Natalie said to him giving him a pointed look.

"We'll see."

In response to that Natalie just shook her head at him and changed the subject, "Where have you been most of the day. I don't think I've seen you since you brought me breakfast." she said and looked at him curiously.

"Went off world with Sheppard and Lorne, we were trying to find anyone who might have something that might help us find a way to cure you and all the other people on that planet who have the Krataken disease." he answered her stoically, obviously the mission didn't go as planned since they haven't been able to stop the disease as of yet.

"Have you guys killed off the rest of the Krataken?" Natalie asked hopefully, she didn't want anyone else to go through what she was going through.

Ronon nodded at her, "Sheppard and McKay took a jumper over there and sent a gas bomb down to kill all of them off." he said to her.

"Wait, a gas bomb?" Natalie questioned looking at him with wide eyes. "Are they completely stupid and idiotic, they could have killed all of the people there." she said to him. "Did they?" she asked on second thought.

Shaking his head in amusement Ronon answered her, "No, McKay did something to it so it wouldn't harm any of the people."

Hearing that Natalie sighed in relief, "Oh, thank god. Scared me for a second." she said to him. "Now no one else will have to worry about getting bitten or about going to far into the forest where it's nest was."

"Yeah," Ronon said distractedly and decided to change the subject. "Tell me more about your home." he stated.

"I've told you about it before." Natalie said looking at him.

He shrugged, "Tell me more, tell me about when you were younger, what you liked to do there. About your family you haven't told me about." he said to her.

Natlaie looked at Ronon oddly but nodded in agreement, "Okay, as I told you I lived in the state of Minnesota and grew up in a small town. I didn't have a big group of friends but it was a nice sized group; there was Becky and I, our friend Breanna, Crystal and Holly. Though Holly wasn't really my friend. I was closer to the other three, but I had other friends outside my group of friends who I hung out with once in a while. My friend's Katie and Mallory and well one's I met in college." she said to him.

"My favorite subject in school was English, it's always been my strong subject. I love writing and reading whenever I have the chance." she told him, though Ronon already knew that about her. "I have a lot of family, on my mom's side I have four uncles and aunts, one lives in Arizona which is another state in the united states only in the southern half instead of the northern part like Minnesota; all my other aunts and uncles and cousins live in Minnesota. I have an uncle Jim who is like a crazy weird uncle who loves everyone, he's fun, my aunt Cindy who would do anything for you if you asked her; my uncle Steve who is great with mechanics and likes racing cars, my aunt Dawnie who likes to go to the casino and gamble once in a while." Natalie took a breath before continuing.

"Then there's my uncle Ken and Sue, Ken is more quiet and doesn't talk very often, he was in the army at one point in time. And my aunt sue, she makes up for Ken not talking all that much, sometimes you can't get her to stop." she said wit ha laugh. "Then lastly there's my uncle Bill, he's the one who lives in Arizona and to tell the truth I don't really know him all that well. He left for Arizona when I was four years old.

"Your dad's side?" Ronon questioned.

Natalie gave a half smile at that, "On my dad's side I have two sets of uncles and aunts, I have my aunt Sally and uncle Dave, Sally likes to talk and tell you about everything she owns while Dave is more reserved and kind of like McKay without being an asshole and not really a scientist but he is good with numbers. Then there is my uncle Terry and aunt Gail, Terry doesn't talk to me much and Gail is the sweetest aunt ever, she likes knowing what is going on and how we are doing all of the time. She's awesome." she said with a smile.

"You miss them," Ronon stated looking at Natalie.

Natalie nodded at that, "Yeah they're my family I'm bound to miss them once in a while. But I really miss all of my cousin's I got along with most of them, even if I didn't have all that much in common with them, I liked hanging out with them and talking with them once in a while when we all got together for some family get together." she stated with a smile on her face.

After that Ronon and Natalie just talked about everything and anything that really came to mind, but mostly Ronon just sat there and stared at Natalie and listened to her talk for as long as he possibly could. The last thing he ever wanted to hear in his life was Natalie's voice. And if Natalie was going to be dying soon then he wanted to hear her voice as often as he could, until Natalie's last breath.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it and seriously people review and tell me what you like about it, what you want me to add maybe or any ideas that you would like integrated into the story. Smooches love you all.


	48. You Can do It

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual, no matter how much i wish it was mine.

A/N: I know its been a while since i've updated. Probably a few months i'm guessing but i've been busy with work, my other work and school and doing homework. So safe to say i have no life or time to write and i have writers block once in a while too.

Chapter forty-eight

Over the next few days, the pain that Natalie was feeling slowly started to get more intense and soon she could barely stand to shift around to get more comfortable let alone even move her hand or arm. It was too painful and it took everything in her to just not scream out from what she was feeling; she now understood why people asked for death when they were in so much pain. Anything, even death would be a welcomed release compared to the pain that she was feeling at the moment.

At the moment Natalie was doing everything in her power to not scream from the pain she was feeling at the moment; she was breathing in and out rhythmically, she was counting in German and Spanish and was cataloging all of the weapons she knew that were down in the Weapons Bay in alphabetical order. Though, no matter what Natalie did it didn't help keep the pain out of her mind, so Natalie soon gave in and just screamed for all that she was worth letting the pain that she was feeling come out through the screaming that she was doing.

"Lass, Lass what's wrong dear?" Carson asked as he and Keller rushed into the private room that Natalie was occupying at the moment. "I need you to tell me where it hurts lassie and what happened." he said to her as she started to thrash around on her bed.

Natalie looked up at him with a pained expression on her face, "Please just kill me, make this stop." she said as tears started to stream down her face because of how much the pain was getting to her. "Please!"

When Carson heard those words come from Natalie – the one person that he always thought was strong through everything, no matter what life threw at her she was always strong and refused to back down. If it was an unlikely win she would face it head on, if it was the wraith she wouldn't be afraid, if it was her getting tortured she wouldn't make a peep just because she would want to spite them. The Krataken disease though, it made Natalie beg for death, something that was completely out of character for her.

"Shhh m'dear I'm gonna fix you right on up, don' you worry 'bout that." Carson said to her with a forced smile. "Now I have to strap you down onto the bed Natalie, I don't need you hurting yourself while I'm tryin' to help you. Okay?" he said to her when he got a sharp nod Carson looked over at Keller. "Jennifer, if you will."

Keller looked between Natalie and Carson hesitantly, "Is it really necessary Carson? To strap her onto the bed. It seems a bit much don't you think?" she questioned.

Carson looked up at Keller, "No, trust me Keller I know what Natalie is capable of when she is in pain or angry and we will want 'er strapped down before she decides to try and hurt 'erself or to get off the bed and handle the pain she is feeling in 'er own way." he said to her. "So please strap 'er down so that she doesn't hurt 'erself or anyone else."

Just as Keller was starting to strap Natalie down onto the bed Natalie started thrashing around trying to get off of the bed, to try and find some way to make the pain that she was feeling stop, even if it was only for a few moments.

"Strap 'er in Keller, hurry." Carson said as he was holding Natalie's remaining limbs down so that Keller could finish securing Natalie to the bed so that she didn't hurt herself or either Carson or Keller.

Once Keller had managed to get Natalie strapped in the two started to work on her, though it wasn't very easy to check over her and get medicine into her seeing as she wouldn't stop moving. The two were finally able to get Natalie to settle down, only after they had given her a very nice dose of a sedative that would have knocked at least two normal people out.

"Do you think she's gonna make it through?" Keller asked quietly as she looked over at Carson.

Carson sighed heavily and wiped at his sweaty brow, "I'm not sure Keller, I'm really not sure this time around. The girl is a fighter and a survivor, she fight's with all of what she has in her but this sickness is harsh and has been hard on her so far. I'm not exactly sure what will happen." he stated. "And if she doesn't survive I don't even want to think of how Ronon will react to that."

"He definitely wont take it well," Keller said with a grimace.

"No, that he won't." Carson said finally. "Which is why she needs to fight this."

It took nearly a day in a half for Natalie to finally wake up and come to, but when she finally did she was still in a good deal of pain but it wasn't anything like the day before where she was begging for death and thrashing a round on her bed. Opening her eyes and looking around her room Natalie noticed that Ronon was asleep in the chair besides her bed, Keller was also in her room but had her back turned to her and was looking at some of the medical machines that were hooked up to her at the moment.

Natalie tried to reach over to touch the side of Ronon's face and run her hands down his cheek and to his facial hair but she soon realized that her hands and legs were restrained and strapped to the bed. "Keller? Hey Keller." she said trying to gain her friend's attention.

Keller whirled around when she heard Natalie talking, "Natalie!" she said excitedly, but in a whispering voice so that she didn't wake Ronon up. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Natalie shrugged at that, "A tad bit in pain and a little restrained." she said as she tugged at the straps that were around her arms and gave Keller a pointed a look.

"Oh, yeah sorry." Keller said with a sheepish smile. "We had to restrain you, you were thrashing all over the place and we couldn't help you without doing so." she explained.

"Well okay, thanks for the info but I was kind of hoping that you'd free me." Natalie told her with a hopeful look. "When I usually think of being restrained it usually involved my bed and silky ties and usually Ronon stalking towards me, not being on a hospital bed with nasty smelling medicine." she told her with a half smile on her face.

When Natalie said that Keller blushed a bit and went to work on freeing Natalie from the straps she was confined to, "They're going to be sore and bruised for a while, you pulled against them pretty violently." she told her as she started to look over Natalie's vitals and just do a quick check up on her to make sure she wasn't doing any worse then how she was before.

While Keller was giving her a check up Natalie ran her hands over Ronon's massive dreadlocks and gently caressed the sides of his face, just wanting to be sure that he was still there and that he was real. Natalie wanted to be sure that she wasn't so lost to the sickness that she didn't wake up and that she was still there with Ronon – the one person who was her strength and her everything.

"Carson or I will come back in a few hours to check on you, if you need anything just radio us alright." Keller said as she gave Natalie a look.

"Aye aye, captain." Natalie said giving her a mocking salute, to which Keller just shook her head and left the room to give Natalie some alone time with Ronon.

The second that Keller left Ronon opened his eyes and just stared at Natalie for a few moments, it was as if he just wanted to be sure that she was real and was really there with him and still alive. Once he realized that Natalie was okay and had no lasting damage from the day before he stood up from his chair and leaned down and gently grasped Natalie's face in his massive hands and kissed her with all he was worth, pushing his worry and love into it.

"I love you," Ronon gently whispered and leaned his forehead against Natalie's.

Natalie gave a small smile, "I love you too Ronon." she replied back.

Ronon pulled away a little bit so that he could look at Natalie, "I thought you were dying when I heard you screaming." he told her, hinting at that he was worried about her. "Carter and Sheppard wouldn't let me come down here while Carson and Keller were working on you." he said to her.

"I'm sorry," Natalie said with a sympathetic look on her face, she remembered what it was like for her when Ronon was in the hospital bed, it was stressful and she was worried about him for the whole time until he woke up.

He gently kissed her forehead and sat back in his chair, "Doesn't matter, you're fine now." he said to her trying to believe what he was saying but it was obvious he was starting to have doubts now.

Hearing him say that made Natalie sigh heavily, "Ronon you know that's not true," she said to him gravely.

Ronon just shook his head when she said that to him, "No. We're not talking about that again. I told you that we don't need to worry about that yet." he said to her fiercely and raised his voice while running his hands over his dreadlocks in frustration.

"Damn it Ronon!" Natalie yelled back at him. "We need to worry about this, it's going to happen and you can't get around that." she said to him breathing hard, it was starting to get harder and harder to breath lately. "I'm dying Ronon. Dying. And you are going to have to accept that." she told him bluntly, not even bothering to sugar coat things like she had been for her other friends.

"No." Ronon said determinedly. "I refuse to." he told her looking her straight in the eye.

When Natalie saw Ronon's set jaw she knew that this was going to be a hard battle to win; grabbing his hands in her's Natalie began to rub the top of them with her thumb. "Ronon you need to accept the fact that I am going to die and won't be around anymore. I know this sucks, I hate this, I hate that I won't be able to live to hang out with my friends anymore, to see you everyday, to go back to earth and see my family, to watch my nieces grow up into beautiful people and that I won't be able to do everything I always imagined in my life. But you know what, there's nothing that I can do to change what is happening, nothing short of a miracle will save me now Ronon." she said to him with a shaky breath, tears were already starting to form in her eyes but she blinked them away. "I love you Ronon, I love you so much. I've never loved anyone like I love you, none of my other relationships compare to what I feel for you. Your really are my other half, my soul mate and nothing will be able to change that. I won't let it. I know you don't want to believe that I'm dying but I am Ronon and I need you right now to help me get through this and accept this."

Ronon sighed and looked down at Natalie with determination, "I don't think-" he started to say but was cut off by Natalie.

Natalie shook her head at Ronon, "No Ronon, there is no alternative's. I need you to accept this. I need for you to be here for me, to talk to me about this and let me vent about this and for you to be here with me in the final stages of this disease and do things for me that I want done before I die." she said as she looked at him intensely, she knew that it was hard for Ronon and that it was even harder for him to accept this but she needed him to.

Sighing Ronon looked at Natalie in defeat, "I don't want to lose you." he told her.

When he said that Natalie looked at him softly and caressed the side of his face, "I know you don't Ronon, I don't want to lose you either but I need you right now. It's going to get harder for me and I need you there besides me no matter what." she said to him. "Are you going to be able to do that for me?" she asked.

"Always," Ronon said without a pause. "I'm always here." he said to her and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

~-~_~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~ ~_~_~ Few hours later ~_~_~ _~_~_~ _~_~_~ ~_~_

As the hours passed Natalie and Ronon have been talking about everything that could possibly come to mind; how much both of them regret not having more time together, how they wished that they would have gotten together sooner and wishing that she could still be able to do good in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"I need you to do me a favor Ronon," Natalie said suddenly looking at Ronon with determination.

Seeing the expression on her face Ronon knew that this was something big, "What is it?" he asked looking at her.

"I want to see my sister," Natalie said to him. "I want to see her and my nieces before I die." she stated.

"I'll go and get your computer so you-" Ronon started but Natalie shook her head at him.

"No," Natalie said giving him her resolved face. "I want to see her in person, I want Michie to come here to Atlantis so that I can say good bye to her and my nieces." she told him leaving no room for argument.

Hearing that Ronon looked at her regretfully, "Natalie, we both know that's not possible." he said to her, as much as Ronon wanted to do that for her he doubted that even he could make that happen. "The IOA-"

When he mentioned the IOA Natalie growled animalistically, "Fuck the god damn IOA Ronon, I don't give a shit about what they say I can or can't do. I'm fucking dying and I deserve to see my sister at the least. I've given up so much for this mission here, I've been through hell and have been tortured and now I am dying because of a mission I went on. I think I deserve to see my sister and if they have anything go say again that then they can bring their damn political asses up here and tell me why exactly I can't see her. I want them to give me a very good answer as to why I can't see her." she said fiercely.

Hearing that made Ronon smirk, more of Natalie's stubborn self was making itself known, ever since she got the disease her personality has been dwindling to all but nothing. "One way or another I'll make it happen. I don't care what I have to do I will make sure your sister gets here." he said to her with conviction, if he has to go to Stargate Command himself to convince the IOA to let Natalie see her sister he will do it – he'd do anything for her.

A/N: Review please and i will love you forever and i will give you cookies and ice cream and whatever else you might wnat that is food related.


	49. Secret's Revealed

Disclaimer: As usual none of this is mine i wish it was but alas i am not htat cool.

A/N: Hope you like it, i know it took me a while ot get these out but hiopefilly you all like them and i know my spelling is terrible but its like 12:23 am and i've been in school all day and working. So goodnight. Enjoy the chapter. REVIEW!

Chapter forty-nine

Over the next couple days Carson and Keller have been giving Natalie numerous different concoctions of pain medicines, hoping that one of them would be powerful enough to numb Natalie so that she wouldn't at least want to scream out every time she shifted or moved. It seemed that at least found one that worked okay and made it easier for her to deal with the pain, it didn't get rid of it completely but it dulled it quite a bit.

When Ronon wasn't with Natalie, which wasn't all that often he was with her almost every waking moment, he was down in Carter's office arguing with her about bringing Natalie's older sister to Atlantis so that she could at least see her one last time before she died. Carter hasn't made things easy though, she kept on saying that there were obstacles to overcome and red tape to cross before they were able to do that.

"She deserves this!" Ronon yelled, slamming his hands on Carter's desk in frustration and anger.

Carter sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose, she could feel a headache coming on, "I know you are angry Ronon, I really do but the IOA-" she began to say but was cut off by the angry and pissed off Satedan in front of her.

When Carter started to mention the IOA Ronon glared, "Natalie is dying doesn't that mean something to you?" he asked her rhetorically. "She wants to see her sister before she dies, the IOA at least owes her that small sacrifice. If they can bring McKay's sister here then they can bring Natalie's." he stated barely being able to keep his anger in check.

When Ronon finished yelling all of that at Carter John laid a hand on his shoulder in support but Ronon just shrugged it off and stalked out of the office, it would be bad for anyone who valued their life to approach Ronon for the next few hours.

Once Ronon left John turned towards Carter with disappointed eyes, "You know he's right Carter, if you don't find a way to make this happen for Natalie he won't ever forget and will hold it against you. I won't put it past him to go to Stargate Command himself to make the IOA let him bring back Natalie's sister." he stated.

"I know Natalie deserves to see her sister but there isn't much I can do John," Carter said to him. "My hands are basically tied here, I can't do much to make it possible for Natalie's family to come back here and see her."

John shook his head at her, "Think of something Carter, because if you don't Ronon will take things into his own hands and we both know that the outcome of that won't be pretty. He's already always pissed off most of the time we don't need him worse then he already is." he told her and left the office, leaving Carter to her thoughts.

Sighing heavily Carter ran her hands through her hair stressfully, she knew that she had to do something that would bring Natalie's sister to Atlantis and to tell the truth she knew Natalie deserved this small happiness but there was a lot of work she was going to have to do in a short amount of time. Convincing the IOA itself to let someone who knew nothing about the Atlantis expedition, who wouldn't be be able to contribute to the missions at all, who was a civilian and was only coming to Atlantis to see Natalie was going to be hard. But Carter was willing to do all of the work for Natalie, she deserved to see her family one last time and if it means threatening a few dozen people and breaking a few rules and regulations then she would be damned if she didn't do it.

"Any change?"

Turning from his spot by the window where he was looking down into Natalie's room and watching her, Ronon glanced over at John, Teyla and Becky who were giving him concerned looks. "No," he said with a shake of his head. "She's gotten worse."

Becky inhaled sharply when he said that, "I'm sorry, so sorry." he said to him already starting to tear up, Natalie was one of her longest and best friends she didn't want to lose her.

Ronon just stared at Becky for a few moments before he turned back around and went back to watching Natalie sleep, "She's started to have a lot more trouble with her breathing, she's been coughing up blood and they keep on having to up her dose of pain meds so that they can keep it at a bearable level." he stated and rested his arm on the glass window and just stared down at Natalie, as if he would look away that Natalie would suddenly die.

"Is there nothing that they can do to help her more?" Teyla asked walking up besides Ronon and looking down at the sleeping form of Natalie, there were a few medical machines hooked up to her so that it would alert Carson and Keller if there was any change or if her heart suddenly stopped.

"No," Ronon said darkly. "There's nothing else that will help her, they're doing everything that they can. It's just not enough." he said flatly, for once since the beginning of everything losing hope that Natalie would be able to get over this.

John wished that there was something he could do for Ronon, his friend was depressed and angry anyone could see that, a blind man could see that. "Any word from Carter yet?" he asked.

"Said she's trying," Ronon said with a dry laugh and a shake of his head. "I'm not holding my breath waiting for an answer though."

"I am certain that when Carter finds something out about bringing Natalie's family back here to Atlantis that you will be the first person to know Ronon," Teyla said to him supportively. "I know Carter is good at what she does and she will find a way to get Natalie's family here, one way or another it will happen."

John nodded his agreement, "And if not I will find a way to get you to earth so that both you and I can knock some sense into the IOA and make them let Natalie's family come back to Atlantis with us." he said attempting to lighten up the tense atmosphere but all Ronon did in response to that was stare at him blankly for a few moments and then turn back to look at Natalie once again. "Right, not in the mood for company. I think we'll just leave you to your...watching." he said and motioned for both Becky and Teyla to leave so that John could talk to Ronon alone.

Once Teyla and Becky left John looked at Ronon, "So how are you really holding up?" he asked.

Ronon gave a half shrug at that, "Don't know. I'm not really." he said with a heavy sigh.

"If there's anything I can do-" John started to say but Ronon stopped him before he could finish.

"There's not," Ronon said with a shake of his head. "There's nothing anyone can do now, she's going to die no matter what anyone does to try and save her."

When Ronon said that John looked at him, "Don't give up hope Ronon, sometimes it's all you got. There needs to be someway to save her Ronon, we just haven't found it yet." he said to him confidently.

That made Ronon shook his head, "I've given up hope, when Natalie is gone I'm leaving Atlantis for good. I'm not planning on coming back." he said looking at John seriously.

"I know big guy, but I hope that it doesn't come to that." he said as he started to make his way towards the door. "I'll come by later and see how things are going." he said to him.

Before John had the chance to leave Ronon called him back to him, "Sheppard?"

"Yeah Ronon?" John asked looking back at him.

"Thanks," Ronon told him quickly and turned back around.

In response to that John gave him a half smile and went to leave, he knew what it meant for Ronon to say something like that – Ronon never really said thanks to someone unless he really and truly meant it.

For the next few hours Ronon stayed vigilant in his watch, standing above Natalie's room and just looking down at her through the glass window. There wasn't really any point in him going down there right now, for one Natalie was dead asleep – she's been sleeping more often because of the Krataken disease, and two Carson and Keller were down there running tests and doing a check up on her.

What Ronon really wanted to do was kill something, he was so frustrated and angry about everything that he just needed to do something violent to relieve some of the stress that he was feeling at the moment. If Natalie dies, she will be the second woman that he has lost and if he has to go through that again he won't be able to love again. Natalie was his soul mate, his other half and the one person who brought happiness to him and now she was being taken away from him.

~_~_~_~_~_~ ~_~_~_~_ Earth: Natalie's sister's home ~_~_~_~ ~_~_~ ~_~_~_~_

Early in the morning there was a knock on the door of the house where Natalie's sister Michie lived with her boyfriend of ten plus years and their two daughters – Asia and Rora. Seeing as both Asia and Rora were busy with playing Michie got up and went to answer the door and see who was at her house so early in the morning, usually no one would come until at least nine or ten in the morning.

Opening the door Michie saw two military people, the younger one was a soldier and the middle aged one looked to be some kind of higher up person in the military. She wasn't sure what kind.

"Hi, can I help you?" Michie asked as she looked at them suspiciously.

"Hello, I'm General Jack O'Neil with the United States military." He said introducing himself to her. "Are you by any chance Michelle Vance, sister to Natalie Vance?" he asked her.

Hesitantly Michie nodded, "Yes I am, why what do you want? Did something happen to Natalie?" she asked suddenly becoming worried.

Jack sighed heavily when Michie said that, "Yes Ma'am I'm afraid so, is there anywhere that we can talk in private?" he asked looking at her seriously.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Ma'am please, we need to talk about this in private," Jack repeated to her.

Michie nodded and opened the door further, "Come on in." she said and let both Jack and the other soldier into her house. "It's only myself and my two daughters here right now, my boyfriend is gone on business for the next few weeks." she stated and started to lead them into the kitchen when her oldest daughter came running up to them.

"HI!" she said hyperly. "I'm Anastasia but almost everyone else calls me Asia. It's easier." she said and looked up at the two men. "Who are you?"

Jack smiled at her and crouched down to her level, "I'm general Jack O'Neil and this guy over here is Officer Brent Danielson." he said introducing himself and Danielson to the little girl.

"Are you here to play with me and my sister?" She asked staring up at him.

Before Jack was able to respond Michie spoke up, "Anastasia go and play with your sister, I have to talk to Jack and his friend in private. I'll come get you when we're done." she said giving her daughter a pointed look to which Anastasia pouted and stalked back into the living room.

"Cute kid," Jack said with a half smile.

At that Michie laughed, "Yeah she can be, other times she is an evil mastermind." she said with a shake of her head. "Come on." she said and gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen.

Once they were all siting down at the kitchen table Jack smiled at Michie, "Nice place you have here." he said trying to make small talk.

Michie ignored his effort at small talk, "What happened to Natalie?" she demanded and looked at him with a look only a mother would know how to make.

Taking a deep breath John looked at Michie, "Your sister is very sick." he started.

"What do you mean by sick exactly, how sick is she?" Michie asked looking at him. "It's obviously serious enough to have you guys come and tell me this in person." she said to him.

Jack looked at her sympathetically, "Ma'am I'm sorry but your sister Natalie is dying." he said not even bothering to beat around the bush, he knew that would only do more harm them good. "We are unsure how long she has left but Natalie has requested to see you and to talk to you before she...well before it's too late to not do so anymore."

The moment Jack said that Natalie was dying Michie immediately began to shake her head in denial, her sister, her baby sister wasn't dying. Natalie was too strong willed for that to happen to her. "You're not serious, Natalie can't be dying. I mean it's impossible for that to happen to her. You're lying to me." she said trying to make sense of what Jack was saying to her.

"I'm sorry," John said looking at her. "I know that this isn't exactly the kind of news that you were planning on hearing about your sister but it's true. I'm very sorry." he said, he knew first hand that it was never easy to find out that someone that you love is dying.

Wiping at her eyes where tears were starting to form Michie looked up at Jack, "So now what? Are you going to tell me where she is at least or are you planning on bringing her back here so that she can at least have better medical attention?" she asked looking at him desperately, hoping that Natalie was going to be coming back home.

"No she's not going to be coming back here but believe me she is being properly cared for," he said to her.

Michie looked at Jack as if he was an idiot, "Then what the hell are you here telling me all of this for? If you aren't going to bring her here for me to see one last time what the hell are you doing here?" she asked him in anger.

"Your sister wants to see you," Jack told her.

"Then take me to her," Natalie told him as if it should be obvious as to what he should do.

Jack sighed once again, a common thing it seems as of late. "It's not that easy." he started to say but Michie interrupted him.

"Make it easy." Michie told him frankly.

"It's not that simple Michelle, you see the place where your sister works is highly classified and before I can let you go or even tell you anything about it I am going to need you to sign a confidentiality form. Basically agreeing to not telling anyone about what you are going to be told and what you are going to see and hear once you get there." he explained to her seriously.

At that Michie looked at Jack with a questioning look on her face, "What in the hell is it that my sister is doing that is so classified and that the military is in on it?" she asked him with a suspicious look, she's never been all that fond of the military.

"Like I said Ma'am," Jack repeated. "I can't tell you anything until you sign the forms."

At first it looked as if Michie was about to argue with him but she thought better of it when she remembered that her sister was dying, all Michie wanted to do was see her sister and find out what she is dying from exactly. Signing some forms from some suspicious military personnel was worth it if Michie got to see her sister.

"Fine," Michie said giving Jack a look. "Give me the damn forms." she replied.

Once Jack handed them over Michie hurriedly signed all of the necessary forms and soon Jack was spilling the beans and telling Michie everything about what Natalie was doing for a living; he explained that Atlantis is actually a real location situated in the Pegasus Galaxy which was the next galaxy over from the Milky Way. Jack also told Michie that her sister was apart of an expedition team that went out on missions to discover the other planets of the Pegasus Galaxy to see what else was out there and to meet the people of these planets and trying to establish trading relations with them. Most of the time it was helping the people of the galaxy.

Hours later Michie and her two daughters Asia and Rora were packed up and were ready to leave with General Jack O'Neill to head to the Pegasus galaxy and to see Natalie. Michie was kind of nervous and excited at the same time, she was excited about leaving Earth and seeing the real Atlantis but she was almost nervous because she wasn't sure what kind of condition she was going to find her sister in. For the moment though, Michie wasn't going to worry about that, she was just going to concentrate on seeing Natalie and helping her anyway that she could.

A/N: Not mine as ususal.


	50. Bliss

Disclaimer: Not mine never will be

A/N: So I hope you all like this I wrote it at like 1 am a few days ago and am just now getting around to posting it for you so I hope you all like it. Love to my reviewers. I'll make something on my polyvore for you guys of Nat's family hopefully the next chapter will be out by the latest next Friday.

Chapter fifty

~_~_~_~_~ ~_~_~_~_~ Atlantis ~_~_~_~_~_~ _~_~_~_~_~_~

Carefully and quietly as she possibly could, Teyla opened the door to Natalie's room and hoped that she didn't wake Natalie up. Natalie needed all of the rest that she could possibly get, she needed to keep her strength up so that she could fight off the sickness that was wrecking havoc on her body. Teyla suddenly stopped short when she glanced at Natalie's bed, instead of Natalie being the one asleep it was Ronon who was half on his chair and half laying in Natalie's bed. Though it didn't seem like Natalie minded all that much, she had shifted Ronon's head into her lap and was lovingly looking down at him while she ran her hands over and through his dreadlocks.

"How long has he been asleep?" Teyla asked softly which pulled Natalie's attention away from Ronon's surprisingly peaceful face, very rarely nowadays does Ronon truly look at peace.

"Only about an hour or so, nowhere near long enough." Natalie stated with a shake of of her head at how her boyfriend was taking care of himself.

Ever since Natalie had gotten infected with the Krataken disease Ronon had barely taken the time to get some sleep, all he cared about was Natalie and making sure that she was alive and getting all of the care that she could possibly get. Everyone could tell that Ronon has barely slept; Ronon has been irritable, vicious, rude, vicious when sparring and just plain grouchy in general. So it was safe to say that no one really wanted to be around him or deal with him when he was in that sort of mood, the only people who seem to be able to put iup with him like that and are actually willing to do so are Teyla and John.

"He does not wish to sleep when you are awake or asleep, he fears that he may loose you while he is asleep." Teyla told Natalie.

At that Natalie shook her head, "He worries way too much about me, there's not really much worse that can happen to me now." she said nonchalantly. "I try and make him sleep and maybe eat some food but he doesn't listen. We both know how stubborn he is." she said with a half smile on her face. "With how often he falls asleep in that chair I'm beginning to think I should put a request in for another bed."

"Once you are better Ronon will be able to sleep easier and he will then get a full nights sleep," Teyla said to Natalie with a half hearted smile on her face.

Natalie was about to open her mouth to say something about false hope but decided against it, she didn't need to make her friends anymore depressed and sad over her being sick and dying then they already were.

"So as much as I love seeing you and spending time with you, what are you here for?" Natalie asked looking at Teyla curiously.

Teyla gave Natalie a genuine smile, "Your sister has just arrived along with your two nieces." she replied.

The moment those words left Teyla's mouth Natalie couldn't help but grin and feel happier and more alive than she has in quite a few weeks, "Really? They're really here on Atlantis?" she asked in excitement.

"Yes, they are here." Teyla said to her with a smile. "Carter has sent me to come get Ronon so that we can show them to their rooms and bring them here to see you."

Natalie couldn't wait to see her family again; sure she would have liked it if she could have seen her mom too but seeing her nieces and her sister was just as good. "I can't believe that the IOA actually let them come here. It's...it's incredible." she told her.

"Yes, Ronon did quite a bit of arguing on your half to Carter to convince her to find a way to get them here, I am pretty sure there was threatening involved as well." she said with a hint of a laugh. "Carter did a lot of arguing on your behalf to the IOA as well." she said to her.

"I have no idea how they managed it, but I'm not about to complain." Natalie said to her.

Teyla smiled, "Yes, well as much as I would enjoy staying here and visiting longer I am needed in the Gate Room along with Ronon." she said and started to approach Ronon to wake him up but Natalie stopped her.

"Go on a head," Natalie said motioning towards the door. "I'll wake him up." she stated.

"Alright," Teyla said and headed back for the door. "We will be waiting for him." she told her and left to go and meet Natalie's family.

Before Natalie actually woke Ronon up she just stared at him for a few moments, watching him sleep. When Ronon was asleep all of his worries, all of the stress he was feeling and all of his anger just dissipated and left a peaceful looking Ronon laying there. Very rarely does Ronon let his guard down when he was awake and looked like he was truly at peace but the few times that he had done it Natalie felt honored to see it.

"Ronon," Natalie said gently as she moved some of Ronon's dreadlocks out of the way of his ear. "Ronon, come on wake up babe." she said to him but when there was no sign of him waking up she sighed. "Ronon Tromo Dex get your ass up right now!" she said to him threateningly.

"Hmmm," Ronon grumbled.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "I know you want to sleep longer and need it but you have to get up, my family is here and Carter wants you down in the Gate Room." she said to him as she laid kisses along his jawline but never once going near his mouth.

"Teyla can do it," Ronon mumbled deeply.

"See I knew you were awake." Natalie grinned as Ronon opened his eyes.

He looked up at her for a few moments before pulling her down for a kiss, "Only because you started kissing me." he stated and sat up from his hunched over position.

Natalie shrugged at him, "Can't help it. You're too addicting for your own good." she told him and gave him one last light kiss. "Now get your ass down to the Gate Room and bring my family up here. I haven't seen them in years and I want to see them now." she stated and gave him a pointed look that meant 'you better listen to me or else you wont be happy.'

"All right," Ronon said reluctantly and stood up, he would really rather not leave her side but he knew that he had little to no choice in the matter. "I'll be back." he said to her and leaned down to give her a kiss before he headed towards the door.

"Try and be nice to them," Natalie yelled after him. "And don't be so standoffish."

Ronon gave her a smirk, "I'll try." he said and then left Natalie's room and headed towards the Gate Room.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~ SGA ~_~_~_ SGA ~~_~ ~_~_~ SGA _~_~ SGA ~_~_~_~_~_~_~

With her daughters hands in her's Michie stood in front of the Stargate and just stared at it, it was like nothing else that she had ever seen before in her life, it was basically a giant ring with a water like substance inside of it that didn't get you wet.

"It doesn't bite you know," Jack O'Neil said from besides Michie and her daughters.

Michie looked over at him, "You may be used to weird and freaky things like this but people like me, well we definitely are not used to these kinds of things." she said to him.

"Mommy?" Rora questioned looking up at her mother. "Is that gonna take us to Auntie Natalie?" she asked with big puppy dog eyes.

Staring at her youngest daughter Michie nodded, "Yes Rora, that is going to take us to where Auntie Natalie has been living for the last few years." she said to her.

"She owes me a whole bunch of hugs," Rora said with determination.

At that Jack, who was standing besides Michie snickered in amusement. "I'm sure your aunt would love to give you them kid." he said to her.

"Me too!" Asia said speaking up from her mother's other side. "And a lot of coloring time, and I better get to play with her hair and be the hair dresser." she stated stubbornly.

Michie was both excited and scared to see her sister again, Natalie was her baby sister, well her only sister and finding out that she was dying was terrifying. Especially when Jack explained to her everything that was going on, that they couldn't find a cure for Natalie and that one of her requests is to see Michie before she dies. At the same time though, Michie was excited because for one she will get to see Natalie in person for the first time in nearly four or so years. Not to mention she is going to be going to the ancient city of Atlantis – the one that supposedly just disappeared, the place that everyone thought was just a myth.

"Ready girls?" Jack asked as he slung a bag over his shoulder.

Michie looked at him in confusion, "You're coming with?" she asked, he had told her that she and her daughters would be going through the Stargate by themselves.

Jack grinned at her, "Yeah, who am I to pass up the chance to meet this Natalie that everyone has been talking about so often. From what I hear she is a force to be reckoned with, not to mention she could take down a guy five times her size without shedding a single sweat." he told her conspiratorially. "Now come on lets go!" He said as he started towards the Stargate.

Taking a deep breath Michie grabbed tightly onto her daughters hand's and followed Jack O'Neil through the Stargate and to the other side where Atlantis supposedly was at. Once on the other side of the Stargate Michie's eyes widened in shock, she knew that Atlantis was going to be pretty big and amazing compared to what Jack said, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine it to look like this. It was beautiful and massive.

"Welcome to Atlantis."

Michie turned her attention away from taking in her surroundings and instead towards the group of people who were standing at the bottom of a very elegant staircase. There was two women and a very tall and muscled man with dreadlocks standing there, the woman with short blonde hair smiled at them warmly.

"Hello, I'm Colonel Samantha Carter." she said to Michie and outstretched her hand.

Michie shook the proffered hand and introduced herself and her daughters, "I'm Michie, and these are my daughters Asia and Rora." she said gesturing to each as she introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you," Carter said smiling at them once again. "I wish it was under better circumstances though. You sister Natalie is-"

Before Carter was able to finish that statement Rora butted into the conversation, "Where's Auntie Natalie! I wanna see her!" she said looking around for her aunt.

"Dear-"

"I wanna see her!" Rora said once again.

Michie sighed and looked down at her daughter, "Rora I told you before we went through the big circle that Mom needed to see Auntie Natalie first before you could, to be sure that she was awake and okay to see visitors. I told you that she was sick and kinda weak and to be sure that she will get healthy again we need to let mom see her first and then have you and Asia come to see her okay." she said looking at her daughter.

When Michie said that Rora crossed her arms with a huff but nodded at her mother, "Fine." she said not very happy about that news.

Out of the corner of her eye Michie saw the man with the dreadlocks and the other woman try and hold back smiles in response to how Rora reacted to Natalie not being there at the Stargate to greet her.

"Anyways," Carter said gaining Michie's attention once again. "These are a couple of your sister Natalie's friends," she stated and gestured to the woman and the massive man. "This is Teyla Emmagen and this is Ronon Dex."

Rora and Asia both looked up at Teyla and Ronon with wide eyes, more Ronon than Teyla seeing as he is very tall and muscled. "You're really big." Rora said to Ronon, Asia hushing her sister when she said that and trying to pull her behind her.

When she said that Ronon couldn't help but give a small smile, the girl Rora was a lot like Natalie from what he could tell. She didn't seem to be afraid of anything or anyone, no matter how intimidating or hostile they looked which Ronon definitely knew he looked like sometimes.

"Sorry about her," Michie said to Ronon nervously as she gave her daughter a look. "She doesn't know when to keep her comments inside her head some days." she said to him.

Ronon just shrugged at her in response to that, he knew how kids could be sometimes. Carter found the two little girls amusing, especially Rora, she seemed to have a stubbornness to her, one that reminded her a lot of Natalie.

"Teyla and Ronon will be showing you three where you will be staying," Carter said to Michie and the two girls. "Originally I was going to be showing you around but there is some paperwork that I really need to catch up on, I put a lot of things off so I could convince the IOA to let you and your daughters here on Atlantis to see Natalie." she said to her apologetically.

When Carter said that Michie waved off her apology, "It's fine, you managing to get me and my daughters up here is more then enough. Thank you for that, really. Thank you for getting us here so that we could see Natalie."

Carter gave a half hearted smile, "As Ronon had said to me, it was the least that I could do for her. Natalie has done more than enough to deserve you three coming here to see her, she has saved a lot of people." she told her. "Now if you will excuse me I have some paper work to do. I'll come and check in on you later today or tomorrow." she said and with that gave Jack a pointed look to which he sighed and followed her up to where her office is located at.

"Please follow us," Teyla said looking at Michie, Asia and Rora with a gentle smile. "Let us show you to where your room is." she said and motioned for them to follow her and Ronon.

As Ronon and Teyla were leading Michie and her daughters through the hallway towards a transporter, whatever that was, Michie couldn't help bust stare at Ronon and how imposing he looked in person. Natalie had described her boyfriend to her before, told her how tall, muscled, massive and threatening he could be but she never imagined that he would look so big. Michie imagined someone around the height of five foot eight and six foot, not someone who was almost six and a half feet tall. Michie couldn't ever imagine Natalie sparring against this guy let alone even arguing with him like she had told Michie she had done, it sounded crazy to do anything that would anger this guy.

After about ten minutes of walking, a transporter ride and walking again for about fifteen minutes Michie, Asia, Rora, Teyla and Ronon finally arrived in front of the room that Michie and her daughters will be using for their stay in Atlantis.

"This is mine and Natalie's room." Ronon said as he waved his hand over a sensor to make the door slide open.

When Ronon said that Michie looked at him in shock, "I can't take your guys' room, won't you need it to sleep in when you're not with-"

Before Michie was able to finish that sentence Ronon shook his head, "I don't need it." he said pointedly as he set the bags he was carrying for Michie and the tow girls down on the ground.

"Okay, if you say so." Michie said to him unconvinced but decided that it was best to not to argue with a man who had at least a foot or so on her in height.

Teyla looked at Michie, "Do you wish for your daughters to come with you to see your sister?" she asked.

Immediately Michie started to shake her head, "No, I don't think they need to see her like that right away." she stated quietly, not wanting her daughters, who were only a few feet from them to hear her. "I think it would be better if I went to talk to Natalie first. Is there anyone her that would be willing to watch the girls while I go and talk to Natalie?" she asked hopefully.

Teyla looked at her with a smile, "I would be more than willing to watch them while you are talking with your sister." she told her.

"Are you sure?" Michie asked hesitantly. "The two can be terrors sometimes and I don;t want you to just be watching them because Natalie is my sister." she said to her.

When Michie said that Teyla shook her head, "Michie I have know Natalie for quite a while now, she has done many things for me and watching your daughters while you go to speak with her is a small thing to do. I love children." she said to her as she walked over to where Asia and Rora were at, exploring the room. "How would you two like to spend time with me for a while? I want to know all I can about you two, your aunt didn't tell me nearly enough."

"Sure!" Asia and Rora said in unison.

"You can help us built a fort." Rora said with excitement as she pulled Teyla towards the bed.

Once Michie was sure that her two girls were thoroughly distracted and wouldn't suddenly get worried or start crying because she left, Michie turned towards Ronon and looked at him expectantly. Waiting for him to lead the way to wherever it was that Natalie was being kept while in her sickly state.

"Follow me." Ronon stated in his gravelly tone of voice and then turned around and left the room, not even waiting to see if Michie was following him.

With a sigh Michie followed the mostly silent and imposing man.

~_~_~_~_~_~_ Natalie's Solitary Room : ~_~_~_ ~_~ _~_ _ _~ _~ _~ _ _ ~_ ~_ _

Ntalie had been sitting alone in her room quietly for the past almost hour, just waiting for Ronon and Teyla to bring her sister and nieces up to see her but so far there hasn't been any sign of them. If they didn't show up soon Natalie was going to unhook herself from all of the machines that were connected to her and go and hunt down her boyfriend, friend, sister and two nieces. Natalie hated waiting. Just as those thoughts passed through Natalie's mind, the door to her room opened to reveal Ronon and Michie. The second that Michie saw Natalie laying in bed she immediately rushed into the room and engulfed Natalie in a breath defying hug, it's been way too long since the two of them have seen each other in person.

"God Natalie, I've missed you so much. Everyone has. Why in the hell have you stayed away for so long?" Michie asked her when she pulled away from the long, overdue hug.

Natalie laughed at that, "Can you really blame me?" she asked her. "Have you seen this place?" she asked rhetorically.

Michie shook her head, "Be that as it may, four years is way too long to go without even a visit. I mean even some of our distant relatives visit us more often then that." she said giving her a stern look.

"I missed you too," Natalie said with a laugh and a wince.

When Michie saw the wince she looked down at her younger sister in concern, "Are you okay?" she asked with a frown.

"Good as can be," she said to her and then glanced over at Ronon and gave him a pointed look, he stared back at her and gave a shake of his head but Natalie crossed her arms and raised a brow at him and gave him a harsh look.

Ronon sighed heavily and nodded at Natalie and left the room, leaving the two sisters to their much needed bonding time.

Michie looked at Natalie, "Wish I could do that." she said to her.

Natalie looked at her sister oddly, "Do what?" she asked.

"Be able to talk to Pete without actually talking at all." Michie said to her.

At that Natalie grinned, "It's an acquired talent." she said with a laugh. "God I didn't realize how much I missed talking with you and joking around until just now. Just like when we were kids. Only less hair pulling and arguing." Natalie told her.

Michie smirked, "Yeah and no stealing each others toys either." she said and took a good look at Natalie.

The last time Michie saw Natalie she was healthy looking and getting ready to leave to go and work with a company that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone; now though Natalie looked weak, sickly, her hair was limp, her breathing was kinda wheezy and she just isn't the same person that she was.

"How in the hell did you get yourself into this mess Nat?" Michie asked with a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of her neck.

Natalie glanced at her sister, "You mean me ending up living here on Atlantis and fighting for them or me ending up in this bed dying?" she asked with a raised brow.

When Natalie said the word dying Michie winced, she still didn't want to believe that her sister was dying. "Both I guess." she stated.

"I was approached by the military," Natalie started. "They came to my house and told me all about the Stargate program, the Ancients and told me all about Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy. After telling me all of that stuff and more they offered me a job here, saying that they needed more people to join the Atlantis Expedition and that I was recommended to them by one of my past employers who somehow works for Stargate Command." Natalie explained to her. "I accepted the job without a second thought, I wanted to do something worth it with my life, I wanted to help people and this was my chance to do it. Sure it wasn't the people from my planet but I was still helping people and that was the important thing."

Michie gave a small smile, "I hated that you left you know, I may have other friends who I like talking to and who are better with some aspects of my life but there are some days that I just want my baby sister." she said to her. "I love you Natalie, even if we both get on each others nerves all of the time and don't see eye to eye all of the time."

Natalie smiled at that, "I know, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had to do it Michie. I couldn't pass up the chance." she said to her.

"I know," Michie said with a sigh. "If I were you I would have done the exact same thing." she stated.

"Of course you would, this is Atlantis that we're talking about," natlaie said with a joking smile.

At that Michie shook her head at her sister and got serious once again, "How did you...you end up like this?" she asked.

"Dying?" Natalie asked for clarification, Michie just nodded in response to that.

Natalie sighed, "Teyla had been injured on a previous mission and was stuck in the infirmary for a few days, Carter asked me if I would like to join Ronon, John and Rodney for their next mission seeing as I was free and they were one person down. I jumped at the chance." she told her. "These people were being bitten by some kind of bug that infected them with this sickness and slowly kills them. We were there trying to find a way to cure them; doing tests, taking blood samples and things like that. On our way back we were ambushed by the bastard bugs – Krataken bugs. I ended up tripping while running and one latched itself onto me, Carson and Keller tried to do everything they could before the venom of the Krataken made its way all the way through my bloodstream but it was too late, I was infected."

Hearing that Michie looked at her sister sadly, never in her wildest dreams did Michie think that her sister would die, let alone die when she was only in her twenties. Tat wasn't supposed to happen to her, not to her baby sister. Natalie was supposed to live a long life and have at least two kids.

"Nat I'm-"

Before Michie was able to finish that sentence Natalie cut her off, "Don't Michie, I know and there's nothing that will change it." she said to her with a resigned sigh. "You're here now and that is what is important, can we please, please talk about something else?" she begged her.

Michie nodded, "Yeah sure." she stated. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything," Natalie replied to her.

"So Ronon, all I can say is wow." Michie said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

In response to that Natalie couldn't help but snort in amusement, "Yeah you're telling me. I think that is everyone's impression when they first see him. He's, well the only word that can really describe him is wow and holy shit." she said.

Michie smiled, happy to see her sister in love. "He's nothing like I imagined he would be. I know when you had described him that you said he was really big, muscled and massive but I didn't think that he would be that well built and that tall. He's like a damn sky scrapper." she said to her. "How do you two even kiss with the height difference?" she asked rhetorically.

"We use our imagination." Natalie said with a wolfish grin on her face.

"I don't want to know." Michie said with a groan.

At that Natalie just laughed, "I'll spare you the details then." she said it her.

"Thanks, appreciated." Michie said to her. "So tell me about him, where's he from, when's his birthday, whats his sign, did he go to college, how'd he end up in Atlantis?" she asked all in one breath.

Natalie smiled at her sister and all her questions, she always had ot kw about everything and everyone that her sister possibly dated. "Ronon's birthday is in the fall, not sure what month or what day, the days are different where he is from. Ronon didn't go to college but he was in the Satedan Army." she told her.

"Satedan?" Michie questioned, cocking her head to the side. "What the hell is that?"

Laughing Natalie answered her, "Sateda is a planet, it's where Ronon is originally from. It was culled by the wraith almost nine years ago. And before you ask, wraith are one of the enemies of Atlantis' and the Pegasus galaxy as a whole. They've been a problem since we came here a while back."

Michie stared at Natalie for a few seconds, "So you're telling me that you are dating an alien. Is that right?" she asked.

"Ronon is not an alien, he's just as human as you and me he's just from another galaxy." she explained to Michie patiently.

When Natalie said that all Michie did was shake her head, "He's from a different planet, it counts as him being an alien." she said to her.

For about an hour or so the two sister's talked about their significant others, Natalie told Michie a bit more about Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy as a whole, told her about some of the missions she's been on and went more in depth as to what she did in Atlantis. But soon Michie looked at her sister seriously, she and Natalie might not be very much alike, in fact the two are polar opposite in looks and sometimes likes but Michie still knew her sister. It was obvious to anyone that the whole dying thing was devastating to her.

"How are you really doing Natalie?" Michie asked looking at her sister seriously.

Natalie hesitated a moment before answering, "I'm broken Michie, I don't want to die. I don't. I want to keep on living, I want to do so many more good things for the people of this galaxy. I want to see Asia and Rora grow up. I actually want to marry Ronon and have kids with him, I've never felt like that about a guy before. I never have wanted to get so serious with a guy like I am with Ronon. Ronon means the world to me, he is the one person who understands me completely and now I am going to end up losing him because I'm dying." she said wiping at the tears that were already forming under her eyes.

"Is there nothing that will cure you or make it a bit better?" Michie asked her desperately, hopefully.

At that Natalie shook her head sadly, "No. There's nothing yet. Carson and Keller have done all they could, and looked through some of the Ancient database looking for a cure of some kind but they haven't had any luck." she told her. "It's already too late anyways. I'm going to die."

"NO!" Michie said determinedly. "Don't talk like that. You won't die. You can't." she said to her as she grabbed her sisters hand and squeezed it tightly.

When she said that Natalie looked at her sister sadly, "I know Michie, I don't want to die I really don't. There are so many things to live for but it's going to happen whether we want it to happen or not." she said with a sad sigh. "I've had this conversation numerous times with Ronon, Becky, Teyla and all of my other friends and like I told them nothing is going to stop me from dying short of a miracle happening."

"Are your sure that-" Michie started.

"Michelle please," Natalie said to her desperately. "Can we stop talking about me dying, I wanted you to come here so I could see you one last time before I died. So please, can we not talk about this. I don;t want the last few weeks/days or whatever of my life to be of me and you arguing about finding a way for me to live longer.

Looking at her sister Michie nodded, she really didn't want to upset Natalie for because she was already weak and two even if her sister was weak Michie would totally be annihilated by Natalie. So Michie was going to do all that she could possibly do to keep her baby sister's mind off of dying, she was going to make the last moments/days/weeks the most enjoyable time of her life.

A/N:Enjoy Review!


	51. Familial Love

A/N: Hope you guys like it, i know i was going to try and get it out last week but i was bust and this weekend well i had a bad weekend. Since i'm the writer of this story i am going to vent about my weekend to all you lovely readers, i got off work at 6pm on saturday, since I'm from minnesota its kinda wet and icy and snowy all at the same time, i scraped the ice and stuff off of my window, got in my car hoping to go home my dor wouldnt shut hte latch on the door that lets it shut was closed and wouldnt shut so i had to drive to my dads to have him fix it. he fixed the door but then my care decided to die and then my doors wouldnt lock. not a good weekend.

A/N2: Hope you all like this chapter.

Nats Sister: www. poly vore. come / awes / set?id= 33737995

without spaces obviously

Nat's nieces: www. poly vore. com/ asia_rora_nats_nieces/ set?id=33733898

Chapter fifty-one

It was starting to near supper time and Natalie and Michie were still talking up a storm, they weren't about to waste the time they had together and were doing what any two sisters would do – gossip like there was no tomorrow.

"So how is everyone else back home?" Natalie asked looking at her sister curiously. "Mom, grandma Kay, Grandpa and Grandma? Everyone?"

Michie shrugged at her sister, "Everyone is good. Mom's good," she said and looked at her sister. "She wishes you would come back home and stay home but otherwise she is -"

"Good." Natalie said in amusement. "You know you could use a different adjective or something." she said to her jokingly.

"Yeah but where's the fun in that?" Michie asked her sister rhetorically.

In response to that Natalie just shook her head at her sister, "Anyways...you excited about getting married?" she asked with a waggle of her eyebrows.

When Natalie said that Michie gave her a downcast look, "Nat, I'm not sure if I'm even going to get married anymore." she said to her.

"What? Why not?" Natalie asked looking at her older sister in shock.

Michie looked at her sister with a pointed look, "Well with everything that's happened I don't know if I could really go through with it." she said and gestured at Natalie and how sickly she looked.

"You're going to get married Michie, you and Pete love each other and you have two daughters together." Natalie told her sister like she was being an idiot. "Just because I'm dying doesn't mean you should put off your wedding."

That made Michie shake her head, "No, you need to be there Natalie. I won't have the wedding until you are better and can be apart of it." she said determinedly.

"You sound like Ronon," Natalie said softly. "Trying to believe in the impossible. We all know that won't happen." she said to her with resignation.

Before Michie was able to respond to that comment the door of Natalie's room slid open to reveal Ronon, Teyla and Natalie's two nieces.

Teyla gave an apologetic smile, "I am sorry, I do hope we are not interrupting." she said looking between the sisters.

Immediately Natalie shook her head, "No, of course not." she said with a smile. "What's up?" she asked with a smile.

"You see there are these two little girls who seem to be unable to stay away from their "Auntie Natalie" any longer." Teyla told her with a smile as Asia and Rora went and ran over to where Natalie was laying in her bed.

"natalie! Natalie!" Both little girls yelled at the same time.

Natalie smiled and leaned over to her sister and stage whispered in her ear, "Michie it seems that we have an infestation of Klingons, how are we going to get rid of them?"

At that both Asia and Rora shook their heads and yelled at their aunt, "We're not Klingons, Auntie Natalie." Asia said. "It's us!"

"Us? Whose this Us?" Natalie asked jokingly, pretending to not know who they were.

"Asia and Rora!"

When they said that Natalie's eyes widened dramatically, "No way, you two can't be my nieces. They are a lot smaller then you." she said looking at them. "Last time I saw Rora was two years old and Asia was four. You two look a lot older than that." she said looking at them.

"We grew up Auntie Natalie!" Rora yelled with a big toothy smile on her face.

"Well no wonder I didn't recognize you two," Natalie said and pretended to sigh in relief.

Michie stood from sitting in the chair besides Natalie's bed and looked at her two daughters, "I know you two want to stay here and visit with your aunt but I don't think now is the right time really." she said giving her daughters a half smile. "Your aunt needs all the rest she can get so that she can get better. It'll be hard for her to get better if you guys are here keeping her up."

Hearing that both girls started to protest, "Mom! You said we could see her when we got here!" Asia argued and crossed her arms defiantly.

"I know I did and I'm sorry but-" Michie started but Natalie interrupted her.

"It's fine Michie, they can stay," Natalie said as she smiled down at her two nieces. "I'm sure you've been itching to see more of Atlantis," she said with a knowing smile on her face. "Teyla you wouldn't mind showing my sister around a bit would you?" she asked her.

Teyla shook her head, "Of course not, I would be most pleased to show you around." she said, directing the last comment at Natalie's older sister.

Seeing Michie's hesitance Natalie sighed and pushed at her sister, shooing her towards the door. "We'll be fine Michie. I have taken care of the girls before." she said with a look.

"Yeah but they're older now and you're sick." Michie argued, a bad attempt at that.

Natalie laughed, "Michie I used to work in daycare, I've taken care of kids smaller and older then Asia and Rora." she told her with a shake of her head. "Come on Michie let the kids stay and hang out for a while." Natalie said jokingly. "Ronon will be here and we'll even have someone bring food up from the mess hall so they'll be fed by the time you get done with the tour of Atlantis."

Michie seeing the looks that both her sister and her two daughters were giving her gave a heavy sigh and gave in, "Fine but once I get back we," she said pointing at herself and her daughters. "Are going straight to bed."

"Yes mommy," Asia and Rora said in unison.

Once Michie left the room and was out of hearing range Natalie glanced down at her nieces with a grin on her face, "Now that mom's gone we can have some real fun now." she said which made the two of them giggle.

One of the few things that Natalie loved hearing and would never get sick of hearing was the sound of her nieces laughter, it was so innocent and pure and one of the most amazing sounds in the world.

"Do we get to stay up late?" Rora asked in excitement.

Natalie laughed, "Maybe, we'll see." she said to them and smiled.

Ronon walked over to the chair besides Natalie's bed and sat down and watched her interact with her two nieces; it was amazing to see how much of a difference it made for Natalie to see her family again. She looked happier, more alive and not as depressed now. If he could, Ronon would make it so that Natalie could see her sister and two nieces all of the time. If Ronon could have Natalie look this happy all of the time it would be amazing, but the fact that she was dying and that her health was deteriorating each day made it harder for her to be happy all of the time.

"Asia, Rora I want you to meet someone very important to me," Natalie said as she looked at her nieces with a big smile. "This is my boyfriend Ronon, I love him very much. Ronon these are my nieces Asia and Rora, they're the cutest nieces anyone could ever ask for." she said to him.

"Hi!" Rora said looking up at him with a grin. "You're realllllly big." she said to him.

At that Ronon gave a small laugh, "I've been told." he said to her.

Asia walked over to him and looked him up and down, as if she was scrutinizing every fiber of his being. "Are you nice to our Auntie Natalie? You're not a big meanie poo to her are you?" she asked.

Ronon glanced at Natalie questioningly for a few moments before turning back to Asia, "No Natalie means the world to me. I would never hurt her or be mean to her." he replied.

"Do you buy her pretty flowers?" Rora asked, butting into the conversation.

When Rora asked him that Ronon looked at Natalie yet again and saw her trying to not laugh at her nieces line of questioning, "No I don't. Am I supposed to?" he asked looking down at the youngest girl.

"Well yeah," Asia replied as if it should be obvious. "You're supposed to buy girls flowers when it's a holiday, when its their birthday, when you are being a stupid head and make them mad and because you love them."

Rora looked at her aunt and then at Ronon, "You love my auntie don't you?" she asked him in the most serious voice she could muster.

"You better." Asia said trying to act threatening.

Ronon nodded, "Yes, I love your aunt more then anything in the whole galaxy." he said to her.

"Good." Asia said to him with an approving nod. "You better start buying her flowers soon." she stated.

When Asia said that Natalie couldn't help but laugh; the whole conversation that Asia, Rora and Ronon just had was such a cute moment that she couldn't hold her laughter in any longer.

"Asia," Natalie said looking at her oldest niece. "I don't need to get flowers all of the time. It's kind of hard to find flowers here." she told her.

In response to that Asia shook her head, "I don't care, you should get flowers. Now Ronon knows he should get them for you so you're going to start getting them I bet." Asia said and walked over to her aunts bed and jumped up to lay in bed with her.

When Asia did that Rora looked up at Natalie with a pout for being left out and not being able to jump up and join her sister and aunt in the bed. "Asia, I wanted to sit there." she said and crossed her arms.

"Too bad, I'm here now." Asia said to her sister and stuck her tongue out at her, when Asia did that Rora's eyes started to water meaning that she was going to cry soon.

Sighing heavily Natalie lightly slapped her oldest nieces leg in admonishment and gave her a pointed look, silently telling her she wasn't happy with what she just did and said. "Anastasia you do not say things like that to your sister, it's not nice and the next time you want something that she has she wont share with you or help you." she told her sternly. "Now apologize."

Asia looked at her aunt, "But-"

"Now." Natalie said leaving no room for argument.

"Sorry." Asia said looking away from her sister.

Even though Asia apologized Rora's eyes were still watering a bit; Ronon may act all tough and bad ass a lot of the time and seem very imposing but he couldn't stand to see a little girl cry. Especially one that was one of Natalie's nieces, so Ronon got up and grabbed Rora and sat her on the bed right between Natalie's knees.

Rora looked up at Ronon and gave him the happiest look in the world, "Thank you." she said said and then scooted herself as close as she could get to her aunt and joined the conversation that her sister and aunt were having.

_ ~ _ ~ _ Michie: 9:00 PM ~~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ _ _ ~~

A few hours had passed by the time that Michie had decided to check in on Natalie, Ronon and the girls. While she was gone and being showed around Atlantis by Teyla, Michie was introduced to a few people, most of which were friends of Natalie's. Michie got along with most of everyone; Emilia who was pretty friendly and amusing, Becky – though Michie already knew Becky since her and Natalie have been friends since forever it seemed. She met Lorne, John and McKay as well, and McKay kind of reminded Michie a bit too much of her boyfriend only a bit on the bigger side and more egotistical and rude.

Walking back into Natalie's room both Teyla and Michie stopped at the scene they walked in on, everyone in the room was dead asleep but that wasn't what made them stop and just stare. Natalie was laying as far to the right as she could, besides her was Asia who was asleep with her head resting on Natalie's chest, Ronon's chair was pulled up close to Natalie's bed and he was half laying on Natalie's side and besides his head not even a few inches away was Rora who was lightly snoring.

"We should probably grab the girls and get them back to the room so that Natalie and Ronon can sleep a bit more comfortably." Michie stated as she moved to go and pick up one of the girls.

Before Michie was bale to reach the bed Teyla grabbed her arm, "I do not think that it would be much harm to have the girls stay in here for one night. They look so content there, and I have not seen Natalie look that peaceful and happy since before she had gotten sick." she said to her. "They will be fine for tonight, trust me."

Looking back at her sister one more time Michie nodded, "All right, I guess they'll be okay for one night. Natalie and Ronon are here in case either of the girls have a nightmare." she said as Teyla led her back out of the room.

"Ronon loves children, he may hide it around most people but I have known him since he came here to Atlantis." Teyla said to her. "Ronon will make a very good father one day."

Michie gave a small smile, "He really loves Natalie doesn't he?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yes he does." Teyla answered. "He was the one who saved Natalie when she was being held hostage quite a few months ago. He was told to fall back and head back here to Atlantis but he refused to, Natalie was the last member of her team left to be saved from the encampment and Ronon instead of following orders went to go and save her. Natalie and Ronon were being over run and were being shot at but he managed to get her out." Teyla stated. "That was the start of their relationship."

"Natalie was held hostage?" Michie asked in shock looking at Teyla with wide eyes.

Teyla nodded, "Yes it was not the first time either. I believe that it was actually the fourth time that she had been held hostage and the second time that she had to be rescued from a hostage situation. The other two times Natalie and her team had managed to release themselves and either stun or kill the enemy."

When Teyla said that to her Michie sighed heavily, she was hardly able to believe all of the things that her sister has been through and where exactly it was that she was doing these things. It sounded like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. "I know that they told me what Natalie does is dangerous and life threatening sometimes but I didn't really believe them at first. I mean Natalie is my baby sister and I always think that she would never do anything so dangerous." she stated. "But she really does do dangerous things to help save the people in this galaxy doesn't she. I mean that's what some of the scars are from right?"

"Natalie has risked her life more times than not to save the people of this galaxy and to save other people on Atlantis, if she thinks she can safe someone she will do it." Teyla said as they exited a transporter. "If it means that she may be shot at then Natalie will take the risk, she is a fierce and determined fighter and will stop at nothing to be sure that her people are safe."

"She's a hero." Michie stated as they reached Natalie and Ronon's room, the room that Michie and her daughters were using while in Atlantis.

Teyla smiled when she said that, "Yes she is, in more ways than one." she stated and remembered all of the things that Natalie and her team has ever done for her and other people in the Pegasus Galaxy.

With that said Teyla left Michie to get some sleep, it has been a very eventful day for her and her daugthers. Finding out that her sister is dying, being told that Atlantis is actually real and that there is life on other planets and that there is multiple galaxies out there. That in itself is a lot to take in at one time, then not to mention that she found out about the Stargate and found out what her sister does for a living. All of that put together was basically an overload of information and it;s about time for Michie to get to sleep and just process everything.

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ Ronon: 3:00 am ~ - ~ _ ` _ ~ - `

Ronon woke up suddenly in the night when something bashed at his head, blearily he opened his eyes and saw what had woke him up. A child's foot was in his line of vision, he looked at the owner of the said foot and saw Rora who was sprawled across Natalie's lower legs.

Sitting up and cracking his neck Ronon leaned back in the chair and looked at the sleeping forms of Natalie, Rora and Asia. He may not admit it out loud but Ronon wanted kids, he loved them and always wanted to have a few of his own. Ronon could see him and Natalie with kids, it was one of the things that was painful to think about with Natalie dying. He only wanted kids if he could have them with Natalie, from what he could see Natalie would be a great mother and to know that he would never get that with her was painful. If he can't have kids with Natalie he didn't want to have them at all. If they didn't find something to help or cure Natalie soon then there really wouldn't be any hope left.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter here is an awesome quote for you all

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your Eyes Turned Skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." 


	52. Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual.

A/N: hope you like the newest chapter, please keep on reading i promise things will start getting better for Natalie and Ronon.

Chapter fifty-two

When Natalie woke up the next day she felt two small bodied pressed up against her sides, looking down at herself she smiled when she saw Asia and Rora both squeezed onto the small space of the bed. Smiling to herself, Natalie leaned down and pressed a kiss to both of her nieces' foreheads and just stared at them and imagined what they would both look like when they got older, how their attitudes, likes, dislikes and everything in between would change over the years. Natalie wouldn't be able to see those things though, all because of one bite from a stupid Krataken bug.

"Don't," a quiet but gruff voice said from besides her.

Looking over Natalie saw that Ronon was awake and looking at her, she could tell there was a tinge of a smile on his lips – more then likely he was amused at the fact that she had two little monsters plastered to her sides.

"Don't what?" Natalie asked looking at him with an arched brow.

Ronon gave a sigh and sat up in the chair he slept in, "Don't think about it." he told her, he knew exactly what she had been thinking about before he interrupted her.

When he said that Natalie gave him a sad smile and then looked down at Asia and Rora, "I can't help it. I'm going to miss out on so much, not just their lives but everyone's." she said and ran her hands through her hair. "I won't get to see Michie get married, I won't be able to see my mom again, I wont get to see my friends get married and have kids. I won't be able to be with you." she said blinking rapidly, trying to stop herself from crying but a few tears escaped.

Ronon lifted his hand to cup Natalie's face, wiping away the tears that were falling down her face. It was torture for Ronon being unable to do anything to help Natalie, to make her feel better and to change what has happened but he knew that there was nothing he could do. The only thing he really could do was be there for Natalie throughout this whole ordeal. Just as Ronon was about to say something to Natalie to comfort her there was a knock on the door, it slid open and in walked Natalie's sister along with Becky and Lorne.

Becky looked between the two hesitantly, "We're not interrupting something are we?" she asked as Ronon pulled away from Natalie and sat back in his chair.

"Nothing that Ronon and I haven't talked about before," Natalie said as she gave a barely convincing smile to Becky and the others. "What's going on?"

Michie gave a slight smile, "Just wanted to come and see how you two managed with the girls last night." she said to them. "Hopefully they weren't too much trouble, I know how overwhelming they can be. Especially with everything else that is going on." she said looking at her sister and Ronon, but mainly Natalie.

"They were fine." Ronon said to her and then turned to where Lorne was and nodded at him in greeting. "Lorne."

"Ronon," Lorne responded back. "I was wondering if you wanted to go and spar. It;'s been a while since either of us have sparred really." he said.

For a few moments Ronon considered going for a spar, he really did want to go and release some tension and anger but he didn't want to leave Natalie's side. "Not interested." he stated deeply and crossed his arms and looked back over at Natalie who gave him a look when he said that.

"Ronon," Natalie said meaningfully. "Go and spar for a while. You need it trust me. I'm starting to think that you are purposely scaring people who come in here out of boredom."

Becky smirked, "And he didn't do that before?" she questioned rhetorically.

At that Natalie gave her friend a pointed look to which Becky gave her a sheepish smile in apology.

"I won't leave you." Ronon said stubbornly and crossed his arms defiantly.

Natalie sighed when she saw him do that, "Ronon you need to leave this room and go out and release some energy. Usually you and I have a more fun way to do that but sadly we are unable to do the tango in bed, so you are going to have to improvise and I think sparring with Lorne or anyone else really is a good second choice." she said to him, the second Natalie said tango in bed both Becky and Michie started snickering in amusement.

Ronon glanced at her and shook his head, "No."

"Yes," Natalie responded defiantly. "Besides if you don't keep your strength up who is going to save McKay when he talks himself into some kind of trouble and ends up needing to be saved?" she questioned.

"I actually have to save him?" he asked.

In response to that comment Natalie laughed and nodded, "Yes you have to save him, as annoying as he is we do need him alive here on Atlantis." she told him.

Sighing in resignation Ronon nodded, "Fine." he said to her before he turned towards where Lorne was. "Lets go." he said and walked out of the room.

"See you later I guess." Lorne said to Natalie with a wave and quickly walked after Ronon.

Michie stared after where Ronon and Lorne had left and then turned back to her sister, "He seems to be in a mood." she stated and sad in the chair that Ronon had recently vacated.

Natalie gave a sigh and nodded, "Yeah Ronon's been awfully protective lately, not wanting to leave my side for nothing." she said with a half annoyed tone of voice and half amused.

"I don't think I've ever seen him willingly leave this room," Becky said nodding in agreement to Natalie's statement. "Most of the time Natalie has to threaten Ronon to make him leave, even if it is to get some food and shower. Because lets be serious here, he doesn't care if he smells or anything like that, as long as he can stay with Natalie."

When Becky said that Natalie shook her head, "You know I don't know whether I should be amused that you take notice of my boyfriends hygiene or creeped out." she said staring at her friend. 

"I vote for amused." Becky said to her with a playful smile on her face.

Natalie smiled in return, "Still undecided, I'll let keep you up to date on that." she said jokingly.

Becky nodded, "Sounds good to me."

During this whole banter between the two Michie was staring at Becky and Natalie like they had gone completely insane, "You two are such dorks, seriously." she said shaking her head.

In response to that Becky smirked, "Someone's jealous." she sing songed to her.

Michie rolled her eyes, "Whatever," she said and then looked at her two daughters and then over at Becky. "Think you can do me a favor?"

"Sure, no problem." Becky said to her.

Michie gave her a thankful look, "Would you mind taking the girls to get some breakfast so that I can talk to Natalie?" she asked.

At that Becky nodded, "Would I mind? Come on who can pass up hanging out with those two awesome little girls." she said with a playful smile.

Once Asia and Rora were woken up and changed into a new set of clothes they headed to the mess hall with Becky; they did whine and argue at first at not being able to stay with their mom and aunt but Becky bribed them with going to see Rodney who had computers they could play with. Poor Rodney was going to be ambushed by two stubborn children.

Turning towards her older sister Natalie looked at Michie curiously, "So what's up? What do you want to talk about?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Do I need a reason to spend alone time with you?" Michie asked her. "We didn't get that much time to do the sister thing yesterday." she said to her.

Hearing that Natalie looked at her sister with an amused smile, "Michie we talked for three straight hours. That was more than enough time to get each other up to date on our lives and there was room for a little more too." she told her and looked at her seriously. "So really, what's up Michie?"

Michie didn't say anything for a few moments, she just sat in the chair besides Natalie's bed and stared at her. Taking in everything that her sister was, her looks, her mannerisms, her facial expressions – just, everything.

"I remember when you were first born," Michie said with a half amused smile. "Mom said we were going somewhere special and I immediately thought we were going to go and get ice cream." she said which made the both of them laugh. "Instead we ended up at a hospital, both dad and I ended up falling asleep in the waiting room when you were born." she said to her.

Natalie smiled at that but didn't say anything, she just let her sister keep on talking.

"When I saw you for the first time and mom and dad told me that you were a girl I immediately told them that I wanted a baby brother not a sister," Michie stated with a shake of her head at the memory. "I didn't want to take you home, I wanted ot leave you at the hospital. But they said I could play dress up with you when you were older. So I decided if I could do that then we could take you home."

When Michie said that Natalie couldn't help but laugh, "You barely ever played dress up with me." she said to her.

Michie smiled at that, "Yeah, someone was too stubborn to let me play dress up with them and would whine and cry the whole time." she said giving Natalie a knowing look. "But even so, you are the best sister anyone could ask for. You've done so much for me over the years, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all that you've done." she said teary eyed and pulled her sister in for a hug.

"You're my sister Michelle," Natalie said to her as if it should be obvious. "I love you and I would do anything for you, it's what sisters are for. Living with you and helping you and Pete with Asia was fun and one of the best times of my life." she said with a serene smile on her face and let go of Michie. "I wouldn't change any of it. Even if the three of us did end up wanting to rip out each others throats a lot of the time." she said with a laugh.

At that Michie laughed, "Don't you mean you and I wanted to, we both know Pete hates confrontation." she stated.

"Yeah I 'spose," Natalie said with a laugh, but then looked at Michie seriously. "You didn't tell mom or Pete about this place or that I'm dying did you?" she questioned.

Michie immediately shook her head, "No, of course not. Besides Jack O'Neill was with me the whole time so he made sure I didn't say anything when I was making excuses for being gone for so long." she told her. "I told mom me and the girls were invited on a camping trip and-"

"A camping trip?" Natalie snorted in amusement. "You hate camping, you hate having to pee outdoors and you hate putting up tents."

"That's besides the point," Michie said to her. "The point is, that mom believed and that's what counts." she said to her.

Natalie shrugged, "I guess so, I just can't believe that she actually believed that." she said with a shake of her head. "What did you tell Pete? I know he wouldn't buy the whole camping trip thing. He knows you better then that."

"Well I told him you were back for a really short visit and me, you and the girls were going on a little vacation while you were back and that we would be out of contact for a while." Michie told her.

In response to that Natalie nodded, as much as she would love to see her mom and her soon to be brother-in-law she knew she couldn't. She knew that they would keep Atlantis a secret but Stargate Command usually wanted a very few select amount of people to know about it, hell they didn't want anyone who didn't work for them to know about it. It was a long shot if they would have let Michie come to Atlantis.

"So," Natalie said looking at her sister expectantly. "Do you have everything ready for the wedding?" she asked curiously.

Michie stared at her sister for a while, as if she was speaking a completely different language to her. "What?" she asked.

"You, Pete, getting married." Natalie said to her slowly. "Ringing any bells." she said. "I know we didn't get to talk about it much last night."

When Natalie said that Michie groaned, "Nat, I don't even know if I want to get married anymore." she told her as she looked at her sadly. "I told you this last night Natalie, with everything that is going on I just-"

"No!" Natalie said loudly, cutting of what Michie was about to say. "Don't even think about finishing that sentence Michelle Kay Vance!" she said in warning. "You and Pete love each other, you two have been to get for eleven years. It is about time that you guys get married."

Michelle shook her head when Natalie said that, "I can't Natalie. It won't be the same without you there. You need to be in my wedding, not one of the people we remember that isn't there to share it with us." she said her voice cracking a bit. "You just have to get better so that you can make it Natalie, or else I won't get married."

Sighing Natalie looked at her sister as calmly as she could, "Michie you got to stop thinking like that, it won't happen. I am not going to get better and be able to miraculously make it to your wedding." she said to her sadly. "You have no idea how badly I wish I could go to your wedding and see you and Pete finally get married, see Asia and Rora walk down the aisle in their adorable flower girl dresses. It would have been beautiful."

"How are you not freaking out over all of this Natalie!" Michie finally yelled and stood up from her chair and began to pace around the room. "You aren't crying, yelling out, screaming, blaming anyone or anything really. You are acting like this is just some kind of everyday occurrence." she said and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "You do understand that you are dying don't you?"

Natalie glared at her sister when she said that, "Of course I do. I'm not fucking stupid." she yelled at her in anger. "Do you think I want to die, do you think I want to miss out on so many things. I want to stay here Michie, I want to live and see Asia and Rora grow up, I want to see you get married. I want to see Asia and Rora go to high school. I want to see my friends get married and have kids of their own." she said heart-brokenly.

Taking a deep, calming breath Natalie looked up at her sister, "I've yelled, I've screamed and cried and taken all of my anger over this whole thing on my friends and on Ronon but there is nothing that we can do to change what is happening Michie. There really isn't." she said with a sad smile. "Ronon has been with me every single day, taking all of my anger and sadness and never once did he yell at me for being a bitch to him. I love Ronon, Michie, I love him more than anything else in this life. I'd marry him, Ronon is the man that I would actually willingly walk down the aisle for and you and I both know how I'm not really into the whole marriage thing. That I would rather live happily in sin for the rest of my life."

Michie looked at her sister and then dropped back down into the chair she had been siting in before, "I'm sorry Natalie, I just don't get how you can not be yelling and crying all of the time over what is happening. How you can be so aloof about all of this." she said to her.

"There's nothing I can do to change what's happening," Natalie said tight lipped. "What's the point in crying twenty-four seven if it's not going to change anything." she said to her.

With that said both Natalie and Michie got quiet neither having much else to say for the time being, Michie now understood why Natalie was so calm and understanding over everything that was happening to her. Michie had to admit, Natalie's reasoning did make sense but it didn't mean that she had to like it.

_ ~~ _ ~~ Atlantis: Night Time ~ _ ~~ ~_ ~_ ~_~ _~ _~_~_

It was night time, and this time around Natalie and Ronon were left alone, the girls did ask to stay with them again but Michie had managed to convince them that bot Natalie and Ronon needed some alone time. Alone time was something that both Ronon and Natalie definitely needed at the moment; earlier in the day there had been a scare when Emilia and Becky were visiting with Natalie. Natalie had been talking when suddenly she started to have problems with her breathing, she was gasping for breath and coughing a lot to try and get oxygen into her lungs but none of that was working. Carson and Keller had managed to get Natalie breathing, but the result of her needing help was because her other organs were starting to give up and shut down.

"I'm not leaving you again," Ronon said fiercely as he was holding onto Natalie's hand.

Natalie gave him a look when he said that, "Ronon I already told you that it wasn't your fault this happened, I'm getting sicker and things are starting to shut down. We were warned that this would happen." she told him with a soft smile as she caressed the side of Ronon's face.

Ronon shook his head and took on a dark look on his face, "I should have been here."

"Ronon, I already told you it's not your fault that this happened." Natalie said with a heavy sigh, she was starting to get sick of repeating herself all of the time.

"If I would have been here-" Ronon started but was cut off by Natalie.

"Nothing would have been different," Natalie said looking at him seriously. "I'm still dying and my body is still going to start shutting down on me. We're going to have to get used to it." she said and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to will away the tears.

Like Natalie told her sister, she has accepted what was going to happen and she didn't see the point of getting angry over it anymore but when it was just her and Ronon it was like everything just happened. She's angry, sad, depressed and so many other things all at once over the fact that she is dying and there is nothing she can do to stop it.

Seeing how emotional Natalie was getting over talking about what happened earlier in the day Ronon decided to drop the subject for now, it wasn't important enough to argue over.

Ronon gently moved his hand to cup Natalie's that was still on his face, "I'm sorry, we won't talk about it anymore." he said as he moved Natalie's hand and kissed the palm of it before holding it gently on top of her bed.

"I love you," Natalie said to Ronon as she just looked up into his deep, beautiful eyes.

"I love you." Ronon said back and gave a genuine smile.

Taking a deep, labored breath Natalie looked at Ronon hesitantly, not sure how he was going to react to her next question. "Ronon? Can I ask you something?" she asked him carefully.

"Yes, you know you can." he told her.

"Can you tell me about her?" Natalie asked quietly, looking away from Ronon not wanting to know if he was angry for her asking such a personal question. "About the woman you lost on Sateda."

Ronon took in a sharp breath when Natalie asked him that, "Natalie I-"

"Please Ronon, I need to know." Natalie said to him. "She was apart of you for a long time. I want to know about that part of your life." she told him and looked him straight in the eye.

Finally after a few moments Ronon nodded in agreement, "Her name was Melena, we had known each other since we were kids – we basically grew up together. Melena was taller than you by five or so inches, her eyes were a dark green and she had light brown hair." he said recalling the painful memory of his first love. "Melena cared about people, she worked in a hospital with all of the kids. When the wraith came, I sold everything we owned to be sure that she would be able to get off of the planet safely but she refused to go, Melena wanted to stay behind and help all of the injured."

Ronon shook his head at that, "I went to the hospital and tried to convince Melena to leave and get off of Sateda but before I was able to convince her the wraith hit the hospital and killed her right in front of me." he said and looked at Natalie sadly. "They shot at the hospital purposely."

When Ronon finished saying that Natalie looked at him sympathetically, she understood what it was like to see someone you care about being killed right in front of your eyes – when James died it killed her, it may not be the exact same thing as Ronon seeing Melena die but it was just as bad and hard to see.

"How long were you two together?" Natalie asked curiously.

"Since we were sixteen, so four years in all." Ronon said and then looked over at Natalie. "I never thought that I would fall in love again, but then I met you. You're everything to me." he told her with emotion in his voice.

When Ronon said that Natalie looked at him with a pined expression on her face, she couldn't even begin to understand what he was going through now. First he lost Melena almost ten years ago to the wraith and now he was losing her to some incurable disease.

"Melena must have been an amazing person, very caring." Natalie said to him.

Ronon nodded, "She was."

"Can you tell me about your family?" Natalie asked, she knew talking about Melena was reminding Ronon of his past as a runner and of the fact that Natalie was dying the fact that he was still trying to deny was happening.

"My family?" Ronon asked looking at her.

At that Natalie nodded, "Yes, your parents, if you had any siblings." she said to him with a hopefully smile.

When Natalie said that Ronon gave a small smile, "My father's name was Tromo, he was an engineer for the military and my mother, her name was Evolet. My mother was very kind and loving and was a seamstress." he said, starting to describe them to her. "They were both hard working people, like most Satedan's were. They inspired me, taught me and my sister to believe in ourselves and to be strong no matter what."

"Sister?" Natalie questioned.

Ronon nodded, "Yes, Daenerys, she was four years younger than me. When the wraith came she was sixteen years old, barely had half a chance of surviving." he told her sadly, just imagining what her sister had to go through. "She was a fighter though, I don't doubt that she took down at least a wraith or two."

"It isn't your fault you know," Natalie said to him softly. "What happened to Melena and Daenerys."

He shook his head at that, "I was supposed to protect them, I was supposed to protect Daenerys." Ronon told her. "I was her older brother, it was my job to protect her and keep her safe."

Natalie gently squeezed Ronon's hand, "The fact that she had a brother like you Ronon, was enough to keep her strong and realize that she needed to fight if she wanted to survive," she told him. "And Melena, Melena did what she thought she needed to do. Helping the injured was in her nature."

For the rest of the night until Natalie fell asleep at least the two talked about life; things that they've done and enjoyed, their friends and family and basically just enjoying being with one and another for the time being. There's no telling how much longer it is that Natalie has left, she may have a few weeks left or only a few days so Ronon is going to spend as much time as humanly possible with Natalie as he can.

A/N: hope you liked it, review please. I promise things will start lookingbetter soon.


	53. Computers: Bane of my existence

Aunthors Note:

Okay so my dearest people who have been reading my story, I absolutely love you guys for reading and reviewing and if any of you have ideas you want to give me I am all for that. I know I haven't updated in like four months but I have a good reason for that. I may have possibly spilt liquid on my computer that may have possibly been my fault and it killed the mother board the screen went black and the keyboard doesn't work anymore and well basically useless. So my awesome brother in law has been getting stuff off of it so I can still write my story but he's a busy man doing computers for Greenway co-op so he's just now finished getting everything off of it. I should be back to writing by the weekend at the latest promise.

Smooches dearies…


	54. Turning Tables

Disclaimer: Not mine as usual, i oh so wish it was but its not

A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update I got busy with school and work and yeah i had no inspiration for a while. But now that I'm on my winter break from college I am going to try and update more often. No promises though.

Chapter fifty-three

Sometimes life just plain sucks. You have hopes and dreams for your life, and where you hope to be in so many years and then life decides to throw an obstacle of sorts at you and laughs at you as you try and get over it. Sometimes you can get over the obstacle that's in your way, and sometimes, sometimes its such a bad obstacle that there is no getting over it.

Natalie's obstacle is a lot more trying and life threatening then she ever imagined, sure she knew that taking a job with Stargate Command and going to work in a completely different Galaxy was going to be a tad dangerous. Natalie fully expected to be put in life and death situations while living on Atlantis; she was warned that there were wraith, there were people trying to take over other people, that exploring new galaxies meant a bit of danger. And she definitely knew there was going to be fighting, bloodshed and some flying bullets going on but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine to die from an incurable disease that she contracted from a bug of all things.

"You know," Emilia stated from the chair she was sitting in besides Natalie's sleeping form. "I remember when I first arrived here almost two years ago. God I was so terrified. I mean I was excited too but terrified, I mean I was going to a completely different galaxy where I didn't know anyone and didn't know what to expect." she said to her with a smile. "I'm young for my profession of being a scientist like person, and young for working here when I'm not even twenty-five yet."

Emilia smiled to herself, "I can't even remember how many times I got lost around Atlantis that first month. I swear I was headed to the science lab some days and somehow I ended up either in the infirmary, one of the library's that we have here or on one of the living quarters sections." she said with a shake of her head. "I was quiet and shy when I first got here, new people made me nervous and scared but you, you walked right up to me gave me the creepiest/funniest grin I had ever seen and demanded that I join you on girls night. You said that I had to be initiated and the only way to be initiated into girls night was to join the girls on a night of drinking. Though at the time girls night only consisted of you, me and one other girl that isn't even working on Atlantis anymore."

From the time Emilia met Natalie she has always felt accepted no matter how hyper, crazy and weird she could get. Natalie didn't care, and sometimes she even joined in on the weirdness with Emilia. "I'm hoping this doesn't make you feel old, but you remind me so much of my very Italian mother Natalie. "You're fierce, you are very protective of your friends and family, you are a fighter and stronger than anyone I've ever met. And most of all, you don't back down from anything, no matter how scary and life threatening it is. You are the bravest person I know and I look up to you." she told her. "You're like the older sister I always wanted."

For a few moments Emilia didn't say anything, she just thought about all of the things she and Natalie have gone through, what they have done and basically their whole friendship in general. "You were my first true friend here Natalie, you showed me around here, showed me short cuts to places I wanted to get to, you ate with me and once I joined your team you started to teach me how to protect myself and how to use weapons. I am more than appreciative towards you for that Natalie." she said and ran her hands through her longish dark hair. "I need you around Nat, you can't die on my. Not to mention Ronon will have a completely break down and go all caveman and destroy everything in his path if you end up dying. So please stay strong and get through this, live."

The moment that Emilia finished saying that the machine's that Natalie was hooked up to that were keeping track of her organs, blood pressure, heart rate and things like that suddenly starting beeping and going haywire, not to mention Natalie started to have issues breathing. It was obvious to see that something was definitely very, very wrong.

"Keller! Carson!" Emilia yelled into her ear comm. "Anyone get down to Natalie's room something's happening and she's having trouble breathing. I don't know what to do!" she all but screamed.

Only minutes later Keller and Carson burst into Natalie's solitary room and completely ignored Emilia and went straight to Natalie's troubled body and started to work on her and try and figure out what exactly was going on with her.

"Come on Emilia," Lorne said as he gently grabbed her arm and led her away from the chaos which was Natalie's medical room. "There's nothing we can do right now, we just gotta wait for the doctors to finish on her.

Numbly Emilia nodded, "We need to tell Ronon and Natalie's sister Michie. They need to know what is going on." she said as she and Lorne made their way up to the hallway that was above Natalie's room that had a glass window that looked in on her.

Lorne nodded at her, "We'll do that once we get up to the hallway. Okay?" he asked her and in response Emilia just nodded but said nothing else.

Emilia was part in shock over what just happened while she was talking to Natalie;s sleeping form, one moment Natalie was breathing normally or as normally as she can for having a deadly disease. The next thing Emilia knew was that Natalie was having trouble breathing and all of the medical machines were going crazy unable to process what was going on with Natalie's body.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ SGA ~_~_~_~_~ NR ~_~_~_~_~SGA ~_~_~_~RN ~_~_~_~

Once all of the important people who needed to know what happened to Natalie were notified they all came up to the hallway that looked into her room and were just waiting for Carson and Keller to be done doing whatever it was that they were doing to Natalie and to come up and tell them what the verdict was.

Finally after more tan an hour at work both Carson and Keller came up to tell everyone the news on Natalie's deteriorating health.

"What the hell happened?" Ronon asked gruffly, he was the one who was most affected by what happened to Natalie.

Carson looked at Ronon sympathetically and ran his hands through his hair, "The dear Lass's organs and systems are starting to shut down. The disease is starting to really take a more a hold of her than it had first shown. Natalie is so exhausted and drained all of the time now from fighting that she never has time to build her strength back up so she can try and fight against the disease. It's a never ending cycle that will not end well for her." he said to them sadly, Carson liked Natalie she was friendly, nice and just a nice lass to talk with.

"You can fix it though. Right?" Becky asked seriously.

At that Keller shook her head, "We've been doing all we can to try and fix her and find a way to cure her but we have been coming up blank. We've been using every drug and anti-biotic combination that we could possibly think of but still nothing is working. Time has run out." she said.

"NO!" Ronon said slamming his fists against the wall that was closest to him and looking at Natalie. "I refuse to believe that. Try harder." he said to them fiercely and looking as intimidating as he possibly could.

"Ronon, lad." Carson said. "We have been trying our hardest, we have been doing all we can to save Natalie. All we can do now is just make her comfortable."

Michie suddenly spoke up, "How can you say that?" she asked accusingly. "Is there nothing else you can do?" she begged looking between the two doctors.

"I'm not giving up." Keller said to her. "I'm being realistic. There is nothing more we can do, I wont stop and I will try as many more drug combinations as I can but it doesn't mean that it will make her better. So far the disease has been creating an immunity to all of the drugs tat we have tried to use to fight against it." she said to them with a heavy heart, she just as much as anyone wants Natalie to live, Natalie has been one of her closest friends for a good long while.

Ronon growled and once again slammed his fists against the wall, "Then find away to save her, don't let her die." he yelled at them. "She doesn't deserve this damnit."

At that Teyla looked at her friend sympathetically, "Ronon if they say that they are doing all they can to save Natalie then we must trust that they are. We must have hope Ronon," Teyla said as she gently laid her hand on Ronon's arm.

"Don't touch me," Ronon said as he immediately shrugged Teyla's hand off of him and stepped away from her.

Ronon needed to be angry and pissed off right now,it was the only thing that was keeping him from completely falling apart. Comfort is the last thing he wants right now.

Emilia turned from looking at Ronon to Carson and Keller, "How did this happen? One second I was talking to her and then the next all of the things you guys have her hooked up to started to go off like crazy." she said looking at them imploringly. "I mean I know she isn't the picture of health right now but she wasn't this bad." she said as she gestured at the window.

"The disease took a hold of the lass a lot faster then we were expecting," Carson said as he ran his hands through his hair. "we have a theory, that because Natalie is not from here and did not grow up here in the Pegasus galaxy that her body didn't have the right antibodies or immunity to fight off the disease as long as some of the other people who are from here." he explained to them.

"Because of that possibility," Keller started. "Her body just started to shut down, and give up fighting. Her systems and organs are slowly starting to shut down, and now she even needs help breathing." she told them.

"So you are basically saying that Natalie is a lost cause?" Becky asked with a narrowed look, she and Natalie have been friends since they were six or seven years old, she would be damned if she let anyone just give up on her.

Carson shook his head, "That's not it, we-"

Emilia huffed, "Then what the hell is the problem, find something that will work, fix her." she said to them stubbornly as she crossed her arms. "There has got to be something that you haven't tried yet."

"We have tried!" Keller said to them in frustration. "We've been doing all we can, we've tried everything that we could possibly try and nothing is working. There isn't anything else to try." she said with pain laced in her voice from how much it hurt her to say that.

Keller may be Natalie's doctor, but she is also her friend and realizing that there was absolutely nothing else she could do to save Natalie killed her. Natalie has always been there for Keller, especially with the whole Rodney liking her and then not saying or doing anything to act on it. No matter what she was doing Natalie was willing to listen to Keller and give her advice and act like an older cousin or sister even though Keller is technically the older one. Natalie drew people to her like a moth to a flame.

"So you've just decided to give up on her then?" Natalie's sister Michie asked accusingly.

"Of course not," Keller said. "But we have to be realistic about what is happening."

Carter sighed to herself, she hated that this was happening to Natalie and not just because it was happening to her but because of all of the people who were so affected by it. There were so many people who cared deeply for Natalie and loved her, and if Natalie didn't pull through she knew that things were definitely never going to be the same again.

"We aren't about to give up," Carter said to them with determination. "We will find a way to cure this Krataken disease. We'll find something to help Natalie." she said.

In response to that Ronon laughed dryly, "And by the time you do find a way to cure it, it will be too late. Natalie will be dead by that time." he said with a disgusted shake of his head. "What will the use of a cure be then?" he asked gruffly.

"Ronon I promise you we-" Carter started to say to Ronon but Ronon shook his head at her, making Carter stop, she knew nothing she said would reason with him.

Ronon turned away from Carter and looked at Keller and Carson, "I want to see her." he said in a way that left no room for argument.

Carson gave a nod, "Go right ahead lad, there's no harm." he said and watched as Ronon left the hallway for the room Natalie was being kept in.

Once Ronon had left the immediate vicinity Carter looked at everyone seriously, "Have any of you found anything out on your off world trips?" she asked. "Anything at all that could be of use to help Natalie? Anyone who has information on the disease before, a similar branch even, some kind of witch doctor or Voo Doo medicine doctor?" she asked desperately. "At this point anything would be good news." she said.

Nothing my friend," Teyla said regretfully. "We have been traveling and searching everywhere that we can, but even still there has been no one who has any new information on this disease." she told her. "I have spoken with my people and asked if they know anyone else, but they are not very advance and only trade with basic cultures. None who are very medically advanced."

Lorne and and Sacha nodded their agreement, "Yeah we've been getting the same responses," Sacha said. "No one knows much of anything that can really be of much help, and the people who do know something tell us that anyone who is infected will die within a short period of time of being infected." he said.

"They told us that we should kill Natalie and put her out of her misery," Lorne said with a disgusted tone of voice.

McKay looked at Carter, "So basically it's a no win situation. No one knows anything, non of our drugs are working on Natalie and she's still dying. Our hands are tied." he said.

When McKay said that Carter glared at him, "Just don't give up, keep on looking. And track every lead down even if it sounds completely useless. Something has got to pop up. There cant be a disease out there without a cure, everything needs to have a cure. We just need to find it." she said to them. "We need to find one and save Natalie for both her's and Ronon's sake."

Looking down into the room that Ronon and Natalie were in, anyone could see the agony that Ronon felt for the situation Natalie was in. Even though the two haven't been together for years, it was obvious that they loved each other more than anything in the universe, a blind man could see that those two were it for each other. All everyone wanted to see was Natalie and Ronon back to their old selves; Natalie back to joking around, going on off world missions and being the fierce and strong woman that she was. And Ronon back to being the tall, strong, fierce, imposing, intimidating and somewhat anti-social Satedan that he was.

~_~_~_~_~NR~_~_~_~_~RN~_~_~_~NR~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~SGA~_~_~_~_~_~_

It's been nearly a week since Natalie's body decided to start shutting down from the disease, Natalie was still alive but she was unconscious and showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. Even so, Carson and Keller have been trying to think of every drug combination that they could possibly come up with hoping that something will at least work to an extent and give Natalie a fighting chance at surviving. So far though, nothing has worked and there has been no change in Natalie's condition – Natalie is still getting slightly worse as the days go by.

Everyday Ronon was by Natalie's side; talking to her, telling her that he loved her, that he wanted a life with her, about some of the fond memories he about of her, about some of their intimate moments, him as a child, what Sateda was like before it was culled and things like that. Ronon was hoping that one of the memories would help bring her out of her a coma.

At the moment though Rodney was explaining to everyone (Lorne's team, The rest of his team, Becky, and Natalie's sister) what he had found while he was looking through some of the ancient database. He found a possibility of a plant that could possibly cure Natalie, if not all of the other people who were infected by the Krataken disease. A plant that used right could possibly kill of the Krataken so that no one would have to worry about it ever again.

"What exactly is going on McKay?" John asked as he crossed his arms and looked at McKay expectantly.

"I found something, that if we used it right could cure Natalie." McKay said looking around excited. "This is the part where you congratulate me on finding a cure." he told them arrogantly.

Ronon glared at him, "What is it?" he asked.

"Well," McKay started. "While I was looking through one of the ancient databases I seemed to have stumbled across some sort of directory of diseases that they had come into contact with. One of which was the Krataken, only it was called some other name but who cares about that." he said to them. "It had a scan of the Krataken and the insides are -"

"Just tell us what we need to do Rodney," Carter said to him with an annoyed look on her face.

Rodney gave a sigh, "Well on the planet of T5E-655 there is an certain plant, the Luoniese, that when given to the right person who has been infected by the Krataken, will cure the damage that the disease has done. It will be as if they were never infected." he explained.

For a few moments no one said anything until Ronon walked over to Rodney and looked down at him, "Are you sure that this will cure Natalie?" he asked seriously.

"We..well nothing is ever a hundred percent certain, especially since this was found in the ancient database but I am more than positive that this will cure Natalie." he said a bit nervously. "Though it hasn't been tested since the ancients were still around."

"Good enough." Ronon said with a nod and went back over to lean against the wall.

"It's our only potion, and the only lead we've gotten since this whole mess started." Lorne said.

Michie felt relief for the first time in a long time, "Good you guys can go to P5 whatever it is called and get that plant and cure my sister." she said as simply as if she was talking about the weather.

"As easy as that sounds," Rodney said. "It wont be that simple. We do have a slight problem." he admitted.

"What kind of problem?" Ronon said narrowing his eyes, nothing and he means nothing will get in the way of saving Natalie. "We go there, we get the plant and then we leave. Simple."

At that Rodney sighed, "Except for the fact that the planet we need to go to is overrun by the wraith." he told them.

"Oh well," Emilia said with a shrug. "We still go. It's all worth it." she said.

Rodney looked at Emilia as if she had completely lost her mind, "Do you realize what the wraith can do? Have you even ever encountered one before? This is a wraith infested planet. We could get killed." he said to her.

Michie walked up to Rodney and glared at him, "Are you saying that all of that danger is not worth it to save my sister, to cure her from a seemingly incurable disease?" she asked with hands on her hips.

"Err no I'm not saying that," Rodney said skittishly, he could now see the resemblance between Natalie and Michie, they were both terrifying when angered. "It's just that-"

Before Rodney could dig himself into an even deeper hole John saved him, "Ignore Rodney, he doesn't think." 

Ronon stood up and away from the wall, "If it means that Natalie will be cured and will live to see another day I don't care how dangerous and how wraith infested the planet is. If there are hundreds of hives guarding that one planet I will fight my way through to get just that one plant." he said to them passionately.

John looked at Carter, "I think it's safe to say that we're going to that planet, I don't think we're going to take no as an answer." he told her with a half smirk

"I figured," Carter said looking at all of them. "Be ready by tomorrow."

Random Facts: In May 1349, the Black Death plague reached Bergen, Norway, on a ship carrying wool from England. Within days of arriving in Bergen, the crew and passengers of the ship had all died.

The creamy middle of a Twinkie is not cream at all but mostly Crisco, which is vegetable shortening.

In medieval Europe, leeches were commonly used to treat babies' illnesses. For example, leeches were placed on a baby's windpipe for croup. Additionally, teething babies were commonly purged or bled.

A/N: Again I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time but i hope to be able to update more often. PLease review i appreciate it.


	55. Narrow Way

Disclaimer: as usual not mine. Sad face.

A/N: Hey i am kind of keeping up with giving you guys chapters, i feel proud. Please review. IT gives me hope that you all like my story.

Chapter fifty-four

"You know," Michie said the next morning as she was sitting besides her younger sister's bed holding her hand and looking upon her unconscious form. "I remember the day you were born, I may not have been that old but I remember it clearly." she said and gave a small laugh. "Mom and dad said that we were going somewhere special and immediately I thought that we were going to Dairy Queen for Ice cream. Such is the mind of a seven year old." she said to her.

"I was wondering why we were bringing towels with us to Dairy Queen," Michie said. "I thought it was weird but didn't question it otherwise. Then we pulled up and into the hospital, you have no idea how angry I was that mom and dad tricked me," Michie said as she smoothed back Natalie's hair. "I men they said somewhere special and they take me to the hospital, I thought they were joking and were going to turn around and go get me some ice cream. Obviously that didn't happen." she told her. "When you were born I adamantly told mom and dad that I didn't want a sister, that I wanted a baby brother and to name you flower. I was big into Bambi at that time. Mom convinced me to let you come home by saying that I could play dress up and barbies with you when you got a bit older."

Michie laughed at that memory, Natalie was never one to be told what to do even when she was only a few years old. "You didn't take well to me trying to do that or me bossing you around and telling you how to play with barbies. You were a stubborn child even then." With a sigh Michie ran her hands through her hair. "No matter how strong you are Natalie, you will always be my baby sister. Someone who I still think of as the five year old coming home crying from school because some girl in your class said that the Lion King was stupid. I need you around Natalie, mom needs you and your nieces need you around, even if you are world's away." she finished.

After Michie finished saying that she just say in the chair besides Natalie's bed and just held her hand and looked at her; taking in every feature, every curl, every breath she took, every emotion and just memorizing everything about Natalie that she could. Michie didn't know how much longer she had with Natalie, and even though she wasn't awake Michie wanted to be with Natalie until her last breath.

The sound of the door opening broke Michie from her inner thoughts and made her look up to see who was there, it was Ronon. For a few moments Ronon just stood in the doorway but eventually he moved as gracefully as a six foot five, muscled man could and took a seat besides Natalie's bed on the opposite side of Michie. For a while Michie watched Ronon from the corner of her eyes; she watched as Ronon gently caressed the side of Natalie's face and push some of her limp curly hair behind her ear. Ronon was so gentle and loving towards Natalie, even when she was unconscious and watching it broke Michie's heart. Anyone could see that Ronon was deeply in love with Natalie and would do anything for her if she just asked it, if she asked him to kill for her he would do it without question. He was devoted, more so than any guy that Michie has ever seen before.

"Ronon," Michie said gaining the man's attention. "Natalie is my baby sister, my only sister and I love her very much and I can't lose her. I can't Ronon." she said passionately while blinking the tears away. "we may have had our differences over the years as we were growing up but I've always loved her, and have always thought about her. I need you to do me a favor." she said to him. "Will you do me a favor if I ask it of you?"

Ronon nodded, "I'll do what I can." he said to her deeply.

Michie nodded, "Good. I need you to do everything in your power to get that plant and save my sister's life Ronon. No matter how dangerous, how life threatening, how unlikely and unbelievable it is, I need you to get that plant and save her. Even if everyone else says its basically too late to save her. Save her." she told him in a dead serious tone of voice. "I can see how much you care and love her, and the kind of love that you two have for each other is hard to come by – appreciate it Ronon."

For a few moments Ronon just stared at Natalie before turning to Michie, "I will die finding a cure for Natalie if I have to. I won't let her die, not without fighting for her and doing everything in my power I can to make sure she is saved." he stated.

"I know." Michie said to him. "I haven't seen Natalie this happy in a very long time Ronon, she's been happy but never like this. I have never seen her as happy and complete as I have when she is talking about you or around you. You light up her world Ronon."

Ronon said nothing in response to that he just turned away from Michie and stared at Natalie as if it was the last time he would see her alive, and it quite possibly could be the last time he would. Natalie's health was relatively unknown and in fact she could go at any moment, and that's why getting this plant from the wraith infested planet was so important.

Leaning down Ronon pressed a kiss to Natalie's forehead before he left the room to go and get ready to go off world and find the plant that would ultimately save Natalie's life. Hopefully once they got that plant Natalie would be back to her old self within a few weeks.

~_~_~_~_~SGA _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Natalie ~_~_~_~_~ SGA~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Natalie got the feeling that she had died, she doesn't exactly remember dying but she felt completely at peace and so calm – it was kind of weird. Not to mention she didn't feel as if she was deathly ill anymore, she felt one hundred percent healthy now, and to her that could only mean that she died, which actually kind of sucked.

Looking around wherever it was that she ended up at all Natalie could see was a broken and destroyed city, that at one point looked to be quite beautiful and massive. It looks at if had been culled by the wraith, but from what she could tell that was many years ago.

"You're beautiful," a feminine voice said from behind Natalie.

Quickly turning around Natalie saw the transparent form of a woman who looked ot be no older than twenty or so, if even that. Taking a better look Natalie's eyes widened when she realized who exactly this woman was, this was Melena, Ronon's first love.

"You're Melena." Natalie said to her simply.

Melena gave her a gentle smile and nodded at her, I am. I am surprised that Ronon has told you about me. He's not the most talkative and open of people." she said to her.

At that Natalie gave a small smile, "He's definitely not." she said to her. "I kind of guilted him into telling me by using the whole, 'I'm dying' thing." she said with a shrug and then looked seriously at Melena. "I am dead, right?" she asked.

"Not yet you aren't," Melena told her honestly. "You're close but not quite there." she said and ten gestured to the street that they were on. "Come walk with me Natalie." she told her.

For a few moments all Natalie did was stare at Melena's form before jogging to catch up with her, "If I'm not dead then what am I? And in fact where am I?" she asked her in frustration. "I just want to know what's going on."

Melena gave her a sad smile, "Like I said you aren't dead, but you are quite close." she said ot her. "Basically you are in between life and death." she stated.

"How do I get out of here and be closer to life rather than death?" Natalie asked her.

At that Melena gave her a serious look, "That my dear friend, is all up to you. You are the only one who can fight and get out of this in between and fight as hard as you can so that you can go back to the living, back to Ronon." she told her.

Natalie scoffed when she told her she needed to fight, "You think I haven't been fighting Melena, I have been doing everything in my power to try and live to see another day but all that got me was here. I'm so tired, so exhausted and sick of fighting and getting nothing back in return. All fighting has gotten me is even worse health." she told her.

Suddenly Melena stopped and looked at Natalie fiercely, "Natalie you need to fight, you need to do everything in your power to live and make it through this. I know it is painful and very tiring but you must do it. You need to do it for Ronon." she told her. "Ronon will not make it through you dying, he managed to survive after I was gone but you, you are his heart and if you die he will not live very long after that fact. You and Ronon are meant to be."

What Melena said was true, Natalie knew that without a doubt. If Natalie didn't live she knew that Ronon would fight and fight until he ended up getting himself killed. Natalie wouldn't blame him though, if the roles were reversed and it was Ronon who was knocking on death;s door and he ended up dying Natalie would do everything in her power to take revenge, kill anything got in her way and basically destroy herself so she could join him.

"Melena?" Natalie asked as they kept on walking. "Why are you being nice to me. Shouldn't you hate me and be trying to kill me like all of those movies?" she asked her.

Melena looked at her questioningly, "Movies?" she asked.

Natalie waved her off, "Earth thing." she said nonchalant. "But why are you being nice?" she asked.

"Ronon and I ran our course," Melena said ot her. "We loved each other for the time we were together, but even if I had lived and the wraith had not culled our home I do believe that we would have found our own paths away from each other. I was a healer by nature, and Ronon was a warrior, I am calm, friendly and peaceful and Ronon is fierce, determined, a fighter who isn't afraid of confrontation." she told her. "I know he loved me but Ronon and I's time is long from over, but you and Ronon are only just beginning." she said. "You two are meant to be."

"I've only been with him for a few months, barely long enough for us to think that we are meant to be." Natalie said as she looked away, though if she was honest with herself she agreed whole heartedly with what Melena was saying.

Hearing that Melena looked at Natalie with a knowing look, "Do you truly believe that Natalie?" she asked her. "You two may have only been together for a few months but you two love each other greatly, anyone can see that. You two need each other. You are soul mates."

Laughing Natalie looked at Melena, "Soul Mates?" she said with a snort of laughter. "You may be a ghost of sorts, and there may be different galaxies and technology that no one in my home galaxy has ever seen if they aren't apart of this Stargate program but soul mates, really?" she questioned. "That's pushing it a bit." she told her.

"Is it really?" Melena said to her. "You are here, in a place that you have never been before talking to a ghost and you think Soul Mates are unbelievable."

Natalie nodded, "Yes. Yes I do." she told her with crossed arms. "Soul Mates are things that people make up to make other people feel better about not finding someone to date. Someone to love." she said with a shrug. "I am thankful that I have Ronon and I love him but the concept of Soul Mates is a bit of overkill don't you think." she said.

"You may not believe in Soul Mates Natalie," Melena stated. "But they believe in you."

Sighing Natalie looked around her once again, they were farther in the demolished city, buildings that looked as if they once had been tall and strong were now in ruins on the ground. It was a sad sight to see.

"Where are we anyways?" Natalie asked curiously.

Melena gave Natalie a soft look, "We are in Sateda." she told her simply.

Hearing that Natalie looked at Melena shocked, "Really?" she said, barely being able to comprehend she was on Ronon's home planet.

"Yes," Melena said with a slight nod of her head. "Come lets go, there are a few people who want to meet you." she said to her as they stopped in front of a house.

Without a word Melena went up and basically phased through the broken front door of the house but Natalie had to do some finagling and pretty talented gymnastic moved to make it through without hurting herself, though from what she gathered she couldn't really hurt herself here. But she wasn't about to take a chance.

"Whose house is this?" Natalie asked.

"It's mine," a very deep sounding voice said that reminded Natalie quite a bit of Ronon.

Looking up Natalie saw a man, a man who looked just like the older version of Ronon with a few minor differences. Next to the man was an older woman, she was taller than Natalie and had deep auburn colored hair and deep blue eyes – like the ocean. Then lastly there was young girl, who looked to be between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, who had dark auburn hair like her mother but looked a lot like Ronon.

"You're Ronon's family, right?" Natalie asked as she stared at them. "Tromo, Evolet and Daenerys."

Tromo gave her a gentle smile, "We are." he replied to her. "We've been wanting to meet you." he said to her.

Natalie looked at them surprised when Tromo said that to her, "Why?" she asked, she sincerely doubted she was that interesting of a person.

"Natalie," Melena said gaining her attention. "We all have been wanting ot meet you since you and Ronon met and started your relationship. You are a very strong and amazing person, someone who has been through much and survived it."

Tromo nodded, "Ronon deserves happiness, you make that happen and you bring out the softer and more caring part of him. Something he needs to do more often. The years of being a runner affected him but you've helped him let that go little by little." he said to her and then smirked at her, a familiar smirk. "If I didn't know better I would say that you were a Satedan yourself."

Evolet Nodded her agreement, "You have the attitude of a Satedan; stubborn, strong, fierce and protective. You and Ronon have many things in common. But you are also different, and I believe that is good for Ronon." she told her.

"We especially like the fact that you don't back down away from Ronon wen you two argue." Tromo said with a deep laugh.

At that Natalie grinned proudly, "Ronon doesn't scare me in the least, he may look like the baddest thing on the block but I know him in here." she said as she tapped her heart. "I know him, and no matter what he does or says its going to take a lot more to scare me off."

Daenerys giggled at that a bit, "I am happy that you are with him, it is about time that he found his happiness again. He has been alone for a very long time. He doesn't deserve that kind of life." she told her.

Natalie smiled at her, "I'll do anything in my power to make him happy." she said to her.

"You are his happiness Natalie," Evolet said looking at her seriously. "You are what he has been unknowingly searching for all these years. That reason alone is why you must be strong and fight with everything you have to live, to survive this thing. You are meant to live and be with Ronon for a very, very long time my dear."

Natalie sighed, "Like I told Melena I can barely fight anymore, I am tired and sick of fighting a losing battle. I'm dying and there's no getting around it." she said simply, there was nothing she can do to fight it.

Daenerys looked at her, "No. You need to live and see Ronon again. You don;t have any other choice." she said fiercely, yup, Natalie could see the resemblance between her and Ronon.

Before Natalie could respond to that Evolet spoke up and looked at her seriously, "You're going to live. Right at this moment Ronon and some of your friends are going on a dangerous mission, risking their lives so that they can save you." she told her.

"How dangerous?" Natalie asked already dreading the answer which she knew she was definitely not going to like.

Tromo looked at her, "They are going to a wraith infested planet," he answered. "What they need to save you is there or else you will die."

Natalie groaned when she heard that, "Damn it Ronon. When I get back and see him again I am so going to kick his ass." she said with a jerky shake of her head.

Daenerys looked at Natalie in confusion, "Ronon is risking his life for you. To save you. Aren't you happy?" she asked.

"Oh I am definitely happy," Natalie said to her genuinely. "I'm just angry Ronon is risking his life to save mine. I don't want him to die." Natalie said to her.

"If you don't live then Ronon will die," Tromo said to her. "He won't be able to live without you, he needs you and if you aren't there anymore he will purposely put himself in situations where he will get killed."

Melena looked at Natalie, "So you see, you need to live for him and for us. We don't want to see either of you here with us for a very long time." she said to her and Natalie nodded in understanding, knowing that she would hate it if she was the reason that Ronon got himself killed.

Looking at Natalie, Evolet smiled, "You make my son happy and for that I am in your debt." she told her.

"It's time for you to leave," Melena said to Natalie. "Soon you will be with Ronon again."

Tromo looked at Natalie, "Do me a favor and bring Ronon back here, there are things here that he should have. Things that should not be left just laying around." he said to her. "There is a chest in our room," he said pointing to himself and Evolet. "In it is an old coat and a fur blanket that belonged to his grandfather D'Leh, we wanted to give it to him for his next birthday but because of the culling we weren't able to. Bring him here so that he can get that, he and his grandfather were close."

Natalie looked at him and nodded, "I'll find a way to bring him here, it might take a bit of convincing knowing Ronon, but one way or another I will make sure that he comes here." she said to him.

Once she said that Daenerys walked up to her, "I would have liked you a lot if I met you when I was alive." she said to her.

"I like you Daenerys," Natalie said with tears in her eyes. "I always wanted to have a younger sister, you would have been her for me. Remember that your brother loves you very much."

Daenerys smiled, "I looked up to him when I was alive, wanting to be just like him. I even tried to sneak into the academy so that I could join him in training. I wanted to do everything he did, help and protect our people from anyone who thought to destroy it." she said looking at her with a proud look when she mentioned her people the Satedan's.

"Remember Natalie," Evolet said looking at her. "We will always be watching over you and Ronon, I am glad such a great woman has captured the heart of my son. The both of you deserve love in you lives." she said to her.

Melena looked at her with a playful smile, "Don't be afraid to say yes when Ronon asks you to marry him." she told her.

At that Natalie looked at Melena in shock but before she could ask her what she meant by that Natalie started to feel very sleepy and tired, she figured it was because she was leaving the in between place that looked like Sateda and instead going back to Atlantis.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Becky said as she followed John and the others through the Wraith infested planet.

McKay laughed dryly, "Of course you do, we're lucky that they were distracted by the MALP long enough to get through undetected." he said to her and tapped a few things into his tablet, trying to find out where this plant is at exactly.

John sighed at the two, "McKay shut up, your voice is starting to grate on my nerves." he told him honestly. "Becky you'll be fine, just stick close and nothing bad will happen. Besides you've had training on how to deal with life and death situations." he told her.

Becky also has been getting lessons in fighting from Teyla, John, Lorne and Natalie ever since she arrived in Atlantis, and on top of that she has been training in weapons as well just in case something happens where she has to know how to use one.

"Why did she even have to come with?" McKay asked in exasperation. "Not that I mind you coming it just doesn't seem like you're much use."

When he said that Becky turned and glared at him which made Rodney cringe, "Because I'm a biologist and I am more likely to be able to tell the difference between weeds and the plant that we are looking for than you are McKay. So excuse me if I distract you from this mission and seem like I don't help." she said to him viciously.

"Oh, well never mind." Rodney said a bit embarrassed.

"Geeze don't sound so-" Becky started to say but was interrupted by Ronon.

Ronon glared at the two, "Both of you shut up." he said to them, he was starting to loose his patience with the two arguing most of the way.

Looking at Ronon, Teyla shook her head. She knew how agitated and frustrated that he was at the moment, they've been on the planet for a good hour or so already and they have yet to find this plant that will cure everyone of the Krataken disease. They were beginning to think that the plant no longer exists or it was the wrong planet to look for it at, Ronon refuses to give up though, he is confident that they will find it. He had a promise to keep to Michie, and that was to save Natalie and he wasn't going to break it.

Another hour passed and they all decided to take a break, everyone's legs need a little rest before they could continue on. From the way Ronon was standing it was obvious that he wanted to continue on without the others but knew that that wouldn't be very smart.

Becky was sitting on a big boulder retying her boots up when she spotted something behind her, growing all along the trees. Gently she eased herself off of the boulder and walked behind it towards the trees that were only a few feet from it, she crouched down besides the tree's and her eyes widened at what she saw – the plant that they've been looking for.

"Holy shit, guys. I found it!" Becky said excitedly which resulted in them going over to where Becky was at.

"Is it supposed to be red?" Rodney asked. "I don't remember it saying anything about the plant being red."

She nodded at him, "Yes it's supposed to be red, you aren't the only one who knows how to do research." she said to him tightly.

"Well what are we waiting for lets bag some and leave this place, as fun as it is to adventure around a wraith infested planet I would rather have more of a chance of living." Emilia said looking around at everyone.

At that Becky gestured to Teyla, "Hand me a bag." she told her which Teyla immediately did.

Once she had a bag in hand Becky immediately started to gather up as much of the small red leafed plant into the bag as she could, she wanted to be sure to take enough so that they could cure Natalie and any of the people that were still suffering from it on the planet that the Krataken bug inhabited. Or at least it did inhabit it until Carter had come up with a way to kill of all the Krataken bugs without killing the people of the village.

"Lets get out of this place," Becky said tying the bag with the plant up and looking at everyone expectantly.

"Right," John said with a nod. "Everyone stay close, there's no knowing if the wraith found out we were tricking them by sending in the MALP or not. So we gotta hurry our asses out of here. Understood?" he asked.

"Let's just get out of here Sheppard." Lorne said looking at him.

With that said the group began to make their way back out of the middle of the forest and towards where they had left the Jumper, hoping that there weren't any problems or run in's with the wraith. At the moment that was the last thing that the group needed to have happen, all they wanted to do was get back to Atlantis and give the medicine to Natalie to make her better.

Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticism,

Strong and content I travel the open road.

The eath, that is sufficent,

I do not want the constellations any nearer,

I know they are very well where they are,

I kow they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,

I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go.

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,

I am fill'd with them; and I will fill them in return.)

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter so far and the poem

A/2: The poem I put is jusst a bit from the whole poem, which was actually published in the book Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman which is a collection of poems that he wrote. The book was published in 1855 and was quite scandalous for the time that it was written in.


	56. Recovery

Disclaimer: Obviously stargate and its characters are not mine.

A/N: Enjoy this beauty, i had fun writing this.

Chapter fifty-five

The last thing that Natalie had a clear memory of was being on Sateda with Melena and Ronon's family; talking with them about how she needed to fight as hard as she could to live, that she was basically Ronon's soul mate and that if she didn't live there was nothing in the world that could save Ronon. At least that was the gist that she got from their conversation.

Natalie woke up to the sensation of someone gently running their hands through her hair and stroking her hand, from the size of the hands and the way that they were touching her Natalie could only assume that it was her niece's who were doing it. Carefully, Natalie opened her eyes and blinked a few times before she adjusted to the brightness of the room that feels like she has been stuck in for eternity. The first person that Natalie saw was her niece Asia who was sitting up in a chair as close to her bed as she could get it and was stroking her hair, which meant that whoever was stroking her hand must be her niece Rora.

"Auntie Natalie!" Asia said in excitement with the biggest grin on her face. "I've missed you!" she said with a squeal and very gently gave Natalie a hug.

Natalie smiled and gave her oldest niece a one armed hug, "I've missed you too," she said and then looked over at Rora who looked a bit sad. "I missed both of you." she said as she gave Rora's hand a squeeze.

"You were asleep for so long," Rora finally burst out saying with unshed tears in her eyes. "I wanted to come see you but the adults wouldn't let us. They said you were sick and that you needed to get better before we could see you, but I just wanted to make you better and I knew if I could see you that I could have made you better right away. But they said no and then they said you were getting worse and I...I..thought you-"

Immediately Natalie knew what Rora meant and did her best to somehow finagle her youngest niece up onto her bed with her, "Oh Rora, I could never leave you or Asia. I love you guys too much. Who else is going to have me play barbies and monsters with then, hmm?" she asked trying to make her youngest niece smile. "I love you two so much. I know it was scary and that everyone not letting you two see me was bad. But I was really sick and I wouldn't have wanted either of you to see what I was going through. It was scary even to Ronon and you know how big and scary he is."

Asia looked at her aunt in shock, "Ronon was scared?" she asked astonished.

"Yup." Natalie said to them with a convincing look on her face.

For a few moments Rora looked at Natalie as if studying her before she crossed her arms and shook her head defiantly, "I don't believe you. Ronon is the biggest and strongest person ever!" she said with finality. "He's like a super hero but cooler."

In response to that Natalie laughed and kissed her niece on the forehead, "Yeah Ronon is just like a super hero isn't he." she said with a soft smile.

"Like your own super hero auntie." Asia said with a grin on her face.

"Yeah!" Rora agreed.

Natalie smiled at that, "I couldn't agree more girls." she said to them.

Just as Natalie was about to say something to her niece's the door to her solitary room opened and in walked Niki, John and Carson. The moment that they saw that Natalie was up and awake they all looked at her in relief.

"'Bout time sleeping beauty." John joked to her. "Was pretty close to finding a new prince to wake you up from your sleep, seems Ronon hasn't been up to the job or being your knight in shining armor. Well guns I guess, depending on how you look at it." he said to her.

Before Natalie was able to reply to that Rora did, "Ronon is Auntie Natalie's prince and no one else." she said in anger and pointed at her aunt. "See Auntie is awake so it worked." she told him.

"You're right it did," John said trying to hold in his laughter. "I must have been mistaken." he told her.

Natalie gave a hint of a giggle but winced unnoticeable, it hurt her body to laugh. "She sure told you John." she said and gave her niece a slight hug. "My little protectors." she said and squeezed Asia's hand.

"How are ya feelin' las?" Carson asked as he came over to her bed and looked at her updated chart and at the only machine that she was hooked up to – a vast difference to a few days ago when she was hooked up to at least three different machines just to keep her alive.

When he asked her that Natalie gave a grin, "Good as new, feel as if I could win a race or something like that. Though, I've never really been one for races or running long distances. I'm more of a sprinter than anything." she said off hand.

Carson laughed, he has missed her humor. "Well as fun as that sounds dearie you are going ot have to wait a while before you decide to enter yourself in any races or sprints. You may feel healthy as a horse but you are still recovering, your body is going to feel a bit week and sore over the next few days even if you don't feel it as of yet." he explained to her with a stern look on his face.

Natalie gave a slight pout which made her nieces and sister laugh a bit, "Awwe Carson you take all the fun out of life." she joked to him.

"Glad to see your back to your old self Nat," John said to her sincerely. "It's been H.E.L.L." he said spelling the word out because of Natalie's nieces. "While you were out for the count, Ronon has been a beast." he stated.

Hearing that Natalie gave him an amused look and raised a brow, "I actually always thought Ronon was bit of a beast, it kinda hot." she said and waggled her eye brows.

Michie snorted at that, "Your such a weirdo." she said to her.

"Well dearie," Carson said interrupting the reunion. "I gotta say you are looking like you are pretty healthy but that does not mean you can leave yet. You are pretty weak from being in here for so long and from what the Krataken did to you." he told her with a look. "You wont be back to your old self for a while. Which means no going off world or working with your weapons for a while – I know it kills you to stay away from those things but you are going to have to if you want to heal up and build your strength back up."

Hearing the mention of the Krataken Natalie looked at Carson and John intensely, "Did the other people who got infected get the medicine too? Are we cured?" she asked hesitantly, she didn't want to be feeling a whole lot better and only learn that it is only a temporary fix.

"You're one hundred percent cured," John told her with a thankful smile. "We went out and gave the cure to everyone else who was infected as well." he told her laying her worries to rest.

Natalie sighed in relief and nodded, "Good." she stated.

Looking over a few more things on her chart and checking her vitals on the machine Carson nodded to himself before putting her chart back where he got it from, he turned and smiled at Natalie. "Well lass you are on the road to recovery but you are going to be stuck here for a while, tomorrow we'll try and move you up to the regular infirmary so you don't have to be stuck down here by yourself and that way you will be easier to observe."

"So that means no springing me free anytime soon huh?" Natalie asked in slight disappointment.

He shook his head, "Fraid not lass." Carson told her.

"Geeze Nat," John said with a shake of his head. "Give your body some time to recuperate." he said to her. "You've only been out of the woods for three or so days." he stated.

In response to that Natalie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah." she said waving him off and then looked over at Carson. "Go on Carson you don't need to stay in here continually looking me over. I'm fine, or as fine as I can be recovering for a disease and whatnot. I'm sure you have other patients to see too and if anything else I can just page someone if something comes up or if I get terribly bored." she said with a shrug.

"Lass-"

"Go." Natalie said to him and then looked at John. "Both of you out, make sure he doesn't worry too much." she said to him. "Me and my sister and nieces need to have some girl time right now." she told them matter of a factly.

John rolled his eyes but pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and pulled Carson up and out of the room, "come on Carson, we definitely do not want to be around when they start acting like little girls. Trust me it's not a pretty sight." he told him and barely gave a wave before leaving the room.

Shaking her head, Natalie turned and looked at her sister and she was about to say something to her but before she was able to her sister all but threw her self at natalie and hugged her tightly. Natalie winced through the pain and bared it, her sister needed to make sure she was okay by hugging her and Natalie missed Michie so much, she needed ot hug her just as much.

"God Nat, I thought-" Michie said but cut herself off by sniffling a bit. "I thought the worst was going to happen. I was so worried and scared for you." she told her and gave her one last painful squeeze before letting her go. "I was freaking out and wondering what was going to happen, what in the hell I was going to tell mom. I was just- ugh." she said.

Asia and Rora looked at Natalie and their mom, "Auntie Natalie, mom said A LOT of bad words when you were sleeping in here." Rora said.

At that Asia nodded, "Mhmm, she said things grandma told us to never ever say ever." Asia said conspiratorially.

"Sometimes that happens," Natalie said with a soft smile. "I love you Michie. I love you so much and thank you for always being an older sister to me and being there for me even when I was a mean little thing in my teenage years." she told as she was trying to not cry.

"I love you too Nat," Michie said. "Best little sister ever. You even acted like an older sister a lot of the time to me when I needed it." she stated and almost cried at this emotional exchange. "You've always been the stronger one of the two of us, never afraid of anything or to do anything or say anything no matter the consequences, you can take emotional pain and so many things that I can't even begin to imagine."

What Michie said was true, she truly did believe that Natalie was the stronger one of the two of them. While Michie could be outgoing and social compared to Natalie's more reserved and quiet persona, she never could imagine doing what Natalie has done over the last few years. Natalie left her home, her family, hell even her own planet and galaxy to do good in the world, to make a difference and to use her knowledge where it would be of use. Michie would have never been able to go through with leaving everything she knew, everyone she knew and live somewhere so different from what she is used to.

Natalie looked at Michie, "Where's Ronon?" she asked curiously, she would have thought that he would be camped out by her bed.

Michie laughed when she asked that which piqued Natalie's curiosity, "Last I saw he was being nagged to go and get some rest by Carter and Teyla. I think they were considering banning him from her for at least a few hours so he can get some real sleep." she said with a girlish giggle.

"Stupid caveman of mine," Natalie said shaking her head to herself. "He needs to take care of himself more." she stated.

"Don't be mad auntie Natalie," Asia said to her. "He was very worried about you. Me and Rora made sure to bring him food during lunch though. And we talked to him and played and tried to make him happy. But he really missed you."

That made Natalie smile, "You two really like him don't you?" she asked. " Bringing him lunch and trying to make him happy." she said to them.

Rora nodded with a wide smile on her face, "Mhmm. Ronon is so cool!" she said to her and then looked at Natalie hopefully. "Is he going to be our uncle?" she asked innocently.

At that Natalie gaped at her youngest niece speechless, she definitely loved Ronon that much was obvious for anyone to see but marriage. Marriage was something that Natalie ahs always been hesitant towards...Ronon is the only person that she has actually thought she would give up her vow of living happily in sin and actually tied the knot so to say.

Sighing to herself at her daughters Michie gave Natalie one last hug and then looked at Asia and Rora, "Come on girls, lets leave auntie Natalie alone for a while. It's been an eventful afternoon for her."

"Awwe," Asia said with a pout on her face. "Do we have to?" she asked.

"Yeah, can't we stay a little tiny bit longer?" Rora begged gesturing with her hands at what a little bit was.

Michie laughed and shook her head, "No not today, we'll see Natalie tomorrow. Now come on. Off the bed you two." she said as she lifted Rora up and off of the bed and Asia quickly followed.

"Bye!" Asia and Rora said with excited waves at her.

In response to that Natalie waved back at them and smiled softly before the door shut behind the three and Natalie was once again left in her solitary room by herself. At least now Natalie could sit up a bit and move and not feel like she was going to die with just a single breath anymore.

~_~_~_~_~~_~~_~_~_~_~~ Few hours later : 5 pm ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

For the last few hours Natalie has been recovering from the disease and letting her body regain the energy that it seems to have lost over the last few weeks if not longer, once her sister and nieces had left her earlier that afternoon she took a good two hour nap – she didn't get why her body decided it needed to sleep more after being unconscious for such a long time but whatever. Now all Natalie wanted to do was get out of bed and walk around Atlantis, it seems like it's been forever since she's been able to do that, sadly both Carson and Keller told her no. She was stuck being under watch of the doctors for a while yet.

Just as Natalie was planning a serious plan of an escape which consisted of a bobby pin, a pen and a lone hair tie around her wrist the door to her room opened, within seconds Ronon stepped inside and stood only a few feet away from where Natalie was.

"Ronon." Natalie said with a wide grin on her face, it seems like its been years since she has been able to see him or touch him and that realization hurt her. "Come here Ronon." she said to him, beckoned him over.

For a few moments Ronon just stood in front of the door looking at her as if she was his personal heaven, it was obvious to see how much Natalie's decline in health affected Ronon. He still looked the same but different at the same time, he looked exhausted, tired and gaunt – well as gaunt as a man Ronon's size can.

"Ronon?" Natalie questioned again when he didn't move or say anything to her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

In response to that Ronon didn't say anything he basically stalked his way over to Natalie's bed and carefully sat on the edge of her bed and without warning swooped down and crushed his lips to hers; it was a passionate, powerful and hungry kiss. Ronon was like a thirsty man dying for water, and Natalie was the ocean. Without any hesitation Natalie wrapped her arms around Ronon's neck and pulled him down closer to her and Ronon's hands were settled against the side's of Natalie;s face kissing her as deeply and passionately ash e could, pushing every emotion that he feels for her into that one kiss, pushing everything that he has been going through into that kiss. It was a kiss of the ages.

Finally pulling away Ronon laid his head gently against Natalie's and looked into her deep brown eyes, "I've missed this." he told her gruffly.

Oh, how Natalie has missed the deepness and gruffness of Ronon's voice, the intensity of it and just the way he looked at her, he could make her melt in seconds if he wanted to.

"Missed kissing me?" Natalie questioned as she pulled back from him a bit and stared intensely into his greenish hazel colored eyes.

Ronon smirked at her, "Missed kissing you," he said as he pressed a sensual kiss to her lips before pulling back. "Missed breathing you in, missed touching you." he sad as he gently and carefully trailed his hand down from her shoulder to her waist. "I've missed looking at you and admiring your body, and I especially miss our nights in our bedroom."

At that Natalie bit her bottom lip, "Ronon!" she admonished. "What your words do to me." she said to him with a waggle of her eyebrows.

He grinned at her, the first actual grin in weeks. "You bring it out in me." he told her honestly.

"God I've missed you so much Ronon," Natalie said and wrapped her arms around Ronon as much as she could and as tightly as she could. "I really did think I was close to never seeing you again Ronon. I had basically given up, I was in so much pain and thought that it was useless to try and fight when it was obvious you guys weren't going to find a cure in time." she told him as she took a deep breath and tried to blink away the tears but a few did escape.

Ronon looked at Natalie with an unreadable expression and wiped away some of the tears on her face. "I wouldn't have let you die Natalie, you can't escape me that easily. You are stuck with me." he told her seriously. "I love you and I would have died looking for a cure for you no matter what. I would have sacrificed my life for yours if it was asked." he admitted to her.

Natalie gave him a watery smile as she leaned into his warm hand, "I didn't want to give up, there are so many more things I want to do but it just hurt. It hurt Ronon and I wasn't strong enough."

"Ronon grabbed her face once again and forced her to look into his eyes, "You are strong. You are brave, beautiful and resilient. No one can say anything different. You are one of a kind and you came back from death." he told her and pressed a surprisingly tender kiss to her lips before pulling back. "I love you."

Natalie grinned, "I love you too Ronon." she said to him.

After talking a while Natalie Pulled Ronon into bed with her, not to do anything sexual because really, having a window looking down into her room was kind of creepy and a turn off so definitely no sex. The two of them just laid in bed, Natalie pressed as close as she could to Ronon with her head resting on his chest and Ronon's arms wrapped around Natalie's waist.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Next Day: 9 Am ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Nat," Becky said as she and Emilia were having breakfast with Natalie in her solitary Room; Carson and Keller were waiting until the afternoon to move her to the infirmary. "I really think you need to stop putting yourself in dangerous situations. I mean this is the third life threatening thing you've gotten yourself into in at least a five month period right?" she asked her with a raised brow and munched on a granola bar.

Hearing that Natalie laughed, "I just can't help myself Becky," Natalie said as she took a bite of her cereal – Captain Crunch, it made her feel like a kid again. "I'm a glutton for punishment." she said to her with a shrug.

When she said that both Becky and Emilia rolled their eyes, "Natalie, seriously. I mean first you sacrifice yourself when we were held captive on that planet, then when Altozia invaded Atlantis and then the Krataken disease." Emilia said giving her friend a serious look.

"It's not like I try and get into trouble and put myself into those situations," Natalie said to them innocently and shrugged.

That made Emilia snort, "Riiiight. You are so innocent, is that what you are trying ot say?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Exactly," Natalie said grinning at her.

Becky shook her head at her longtime friend, "Natalie, seriously. Me and Emilia both have heard some of the stories of your off world adventures. You are so far from innocent that you are probably best friends with the devil." she told her half serious, half joking.

The moment Becky said that Natalie had a wide grin on her face, "The devil is only my best friend because he knows I can overthrow him and take over one day." she joked to her.

"Serious?" Emilia said, going along with the joke. "Can I join, I can be your follower or something. A Natailist or a Vancist." she said and then made a face at the named. "The names need some work."

Somedays Becky seriously wondered about her two friends' sanity, Natalie she knew was a bit weird and crazy along the edges but Emilia seemed so normal at first. Secretly Becky believes that Natalie brainwashed her into being a bit weird and crazy, soon enough Becky would be converted to their ways of thinking. Scary thought for anyone around them.

"Anyways," Becky said interrupting the two conspiring friends. "Where's the big guy?" she asked curiously.

It surprised Becky that morning when she and Emilia saw that Natalie was alone in her room, Ronon was usually stuck to her side like glue and would barely leave her alone for even five minutes.

In response to that Natalie rolled her eyes, "I finally convinced him to leave for at least a hour or two, he looked dead on his feet and drained. I told him he looked like shit and needed to do something about it." she said to them simply as she finished off her cereal and moved on to eating her yogurt.

Both Becky and Emilia looked at Natalie in shock when she said that, for a few moments they looked at each other as if silently communicating and then at Natalie. For a second Natalie could have sworn that the two were communicating telepathically.

"You said that to Ronon?" Emilia asked after she pinched herself to be sure she wasn't in some weird and twisted dream.

Becky looked at Natalie, "And you're still alive to tell the tale?" she questioned.

Natalie laughed, "Yes I am still alive after telling Ronon that he looked like shit." she said to them and shook her head. "Like Ronon can do anything to hurt me."

"But Ronon is so big and grr looking," Becky said to her. "He could seriously pop your head off with a flick of his hand. He would probably get angry over them serving the wrong meat," she said with a shudder. "Yet you tell him that he looks like shit and to leave for a while and nothing." she said in amazement.

"We know you're strong and brave," Emilia started. "I mean how can you not be to do what you do but jeebus woman, you have a vagina of steel to say something like that to Ronon." she told her.

The second Emilia said 'vagina of steel' Natalie couldn't help but giggle a bit. "He got a little pissy but I managed to reason and persuade him to see things my way." she said with a wolfish grin on her face.

"Yeah?" Emilia said. "How did you manage that?" she asked.

Natalie grinned even wider at that, "With my bodacious self." she said as she gestured to her body. "Sex is always the answer when it comes to men." she told them with a shrug. "Well sex and food. I could give you guys some pointers if you want."

At that Becky laughed, "Yeah, thanks but no." she said to her. "I don;t have a guy to do anything with to use the supposed pointers you would give me on." she told her.

"Awe," Emilia said. "Is our Becky needing some lovin' from our dearest Colonel John Sheppard?" she asked.

Becky gave her a dark look and pushed her playfully, "Shut up." she said and looked away from her.

Natalie smiled to herself, "Get on that high horse and just do a surprise attack, the surprise attack always gets them. Male or female." she said to her. "Unless you swing for the other team now."

That made Becky glare, "Natalie. No, just no." she said with a shake of her head.

"Hey I'm all for that," Natalie said to her. "I'm all for equality and all that jazz." she told her.

Becky just sighed, "Lets not talk about my nonexistent love life okay." she said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Emilia taking pity on Becky changed the subject before Natalie was able to try and convince Becky to do the nasty with John, though she fully agreed with Natalie but Becky was obviously embarrassed at the thought for some odd reason.

"So," Emilia started. "How long are you going to be stuck in here then?" she asked curiously.

At that Natalie shrugged, "No idea. I'm guessing a while since they said that they plan on moving me up to the infirmary sometime today if possible." she said to them. "All I really want to do is get out of here and be free and get back to doing what I'm good at." she said them.

Emilia gave her a look, "What having sex with Ronon everywhere and anywhere you two can think of...the gym included?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Those are fun times but I was thinking you know...work." Natalie said to her. "I'm still not used to staying still for so long. It's weird for me." Natalie admitted. "To think when I was younger I was such a lazy ass and now, nope not so much." she said with a laugh.

Becky laughed at that, "I'll trade you." she joked. "I'll rest up in here and you can do my research and sciency stuff if you want to." she told her.

Natalie shook her head, "I think I will pass. I might have been somewhat good at biology in high school and a bit in college but I wouldn't know the first thing to do with your job. Sorry Becky." she told her.

"Don't worry Nat," Emilia told her. "Soon enough you'll be out of here and back to kicking ass and playing with dangerous weapons once again." she stated which made the girls laugh in amusement.

After that the three girls started talking about everything and anything that came to mind; about how Emilia and Lorne's love life is doing, about any juicy gossip that was going around Atlantis (apparently Keller and Rodney have been flirting a lot lately, were even caught kissing) how Natalie's sister and nieces have been dealing with being in Atlantis and adjusting to it and just everything.

It was nice to have some girl time after being unconscious and sick for so long, Natalie missed her and her girls' weekly girls night. Having girls night is one of the few things that every girl needed to have in their life just so they could stay sane – chocolate and a good set of shoes were the others. Or at least to Natalie those were some of the most important things.

Natalie hoped that once she was released from the infirmary and the doctors give her the okay she can go back to how things used to be and have a real girls night with Keller and Teyla as well. She missed being able to gossip and act like a teenager.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it. It took me a little bit to actually write and had the middle of the chapter go a bit different the first few times but fianlyl decided on this.


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